Commutation of TP Chandrasekaran murder case convicts; political move of Jail Advisory Committee membered by P Jayarajan 

KANNUR: The inclusion of the three accused in the TP Chandrasekaran murder case in the list prepared for the commutation of sentence of prisoners as part of the 75th anniversary of Independence was a political move. TK Rajish, Shafi and Annan Sijith, convicts in the TP case, were included in the list of 56 persons by the Kannur Central Jail Advisory Committee, of which CPM state committee member P Jayarajan is a member.

The incident became controversial when the letter given by the Superintendent of Jail to the Kannur City Police asking for the police report of the accused before the commutation of the sentence came out. The move was to release the prisoners sentenced by the High Court to life imprisonment with no leniency in punishment for 20 years.

The explanation of the prison department is that the mistake was made by Kannur Central Jail authorities. Balram Kumar Upadhyay, DG of Prisons & Correctional Services, said that the TP case convicts were naturally included in the list as those who had been in jail for ten years, and the Jail Superintendent may not have heeded the High Court's order not to grant relaxation of sentence to these prisoners.

P Jayarajan has been on the Jail Advisory Committee since 2016. The Jail Advisory Committee is responsible for deciding on matters related to the management of the Jail, release of inmates, transfer of Jails etc. District Sessions Judge, District Collector and District Police Chief are official members of the committee chaired by Jail DGP.