The Supreme Court of India’s commutation of the death sentence awarded to the aides of forest brigand Veerappan to life imprisonment, overturning an earlier judgment, is a welcome step(“Apex Court commutes death sentence for 15,” Jan. 22). No one, irrespective of their past crimes, should be forced to undergo the mental agony arising from the fear of impending execution for so long a period against the established law. Though the judgment is very clear in letter and spirit, Perarivalan’s mother must not be kept on tenterhooks or left with any apprehensions about the outcome of her son’s case just because it involved the assassination of a former Prime Minister.
S. Narayanan,
Chennai