Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 9.5 lakh to appeal in Qatar court

Chennai, July 27 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has sanctioned Rs 950,000 towards legal expenses to make an appeal on behalf of three persons from the state who were sentenced to death and life term by a court in Qatar.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday the state government said Jayalalithaa has ordered immediate payment of Rs 950,000 for meeting the legal expenses while making an appeal in the apex court of Qatar on behalf of the three convicts hailing from Tamil Nadu.

According to the statement, Azhagappa Subramani, Chelladurai Perumal and Sivakumar Arasan were working in Qatar and were charged with the murder of a woman there.

In 2015, the court found all the three guilty and sentenced them to death.

On an appeal by them, the Qatar High Court confirmed the death sentence of Subramani and Perumal, but changed Arasan's sentence to life term.

According to the Tamil Nadu government, the Indian embassy in Qatar enabled lawyers to meet the three.

The lawyers told the embassy officials that it would cost Rs 950,000 to prefer an appeal on behalf of the three convicts in Qatar's apex court.

Meanwhile, Rajammal -- the wife of Perumal -- had petitioned Jayalalithaa to extend financial assistance.