Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday asked her Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu to arrange legal assistance for over 500 labourers from the State jailed in various prisons of Andhra Pradesh and facilitate the process of release on bail wherever they were eligible under the law. In a letter to Mr. Naidu, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that 516 persons from Tamil Nadu, who were arrested for alleged forest-related offences, were in different prisons in Andhra Pradesh as on August 13.
Of the 516 persons, 107 are in Cuddapah district, 109 persons in Chittoor district and 300 persons in Tirupati Urban Police District. Most of them were poor illiterate tribals and labourers hired by contractors.
Many of the 516 persons, although accused of offences under non-bailable sections of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act 1969 and the Indian Penal Code, were legally eligible for bail as charge sheets have not been laid within the statutory 90-day period, she pointed out.
Unfortunately, they were still in jail and unable to move their bail application due to penury and lack of appropriate legal assistance, she said requesting the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to arrange for appropriate legal assistance for the poor labourers through the State Legal Services Authority.
Writes to Chandrababu Naidu on the plight of over 500 persons
