NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court granted bail to S Dharmarajan, the main accused serving life sentence in the Suryanelli case. He was granted bail on the condition of appearing at the local police station on the first Mondays of every month.

Dharmarajan is currently lodged in Poojappura Central Jail, Thiruvananthapuram. Advocate P S Sudheer, who appeared for Dharmarajan demanded to grant him parole or bail citing surge in Covid cases in the jail. Sudheer pointed that Dharmarajan had already served 10 years and nine months in jail.

Dharmarajan, accused in the gang rape case, is not eligible for parole. Senior advocate V Giri, who appeared for the state government and advocates G Prakash and M L Jishnu argued that if bail is granted, there is a possibility of him to go into hiding and threaten the victim.

There are 701 inmates in the Poojappura jail. There is no spread of the disease in the jail. The lawyers argued that not a single Covid case was reported in the jail in the past two months. The lawyers informed the court that as he has been sentenced in a gang-rape case, he is not eligible for parole under jail rules.

The court pointed that what Dharmarajan did is a heinous crime. However, an appeal against the sentence upheld by the High Court is pending before the Supreme Court. He has already served more than 10 years in prison. A bench led by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said bail is being granted in this situation.