Hyderabad: More than four decades after he jumped parole, a murder convict who went on to become a govt teacher and even win a best teacher award has been ordered back to prison by the Telangana High Court.
He was finally tracked down in May 2024 by a special task force of the Telangana prisons dept, with the help of Mahabubabad police, and lodged in Cherlapally central prison. It directed the authorities to frame guidelines and establish a system to track prisoners released on parole and ordered the constitution of special task forces to maintain strict vigilance over prisoners on parole.
In her petition Charamma, also a retired govt employee, told the court that continuing Veeranna’s remaining prison term after such a long delay was arbitrary. “Moreover, he is suffering from serious medical ailments requiring immediate and specialised medical treatment, and his health is deteriorating day by day,” she stated, urging the court to direct the authorities to consider his release on medical grounds. Sandela Charamma, recently challenged his continued incarceration and the denial of parole for the past three years — on medical and compassionate grounds — the high court dismissed her petition While Veeranna’s wife. She argued that he had not been given a proper opportunity to explain the alleged violation of parole. The petitioner stated that her son was a permanent resident of the UK and there was nobody to look after them. it also pulled up the prison authorities over their failure to trace Veeranna for more than four decades While the court rejected the plea. Justice Madhavi Devi observed that the lapse reflected poorly on the prison administration. The court also rejected the allegation that Veeranna had not been given an opportunity to explain the parole violation. It noted that prison authorities had issued him a show-cause notice and heard him before rejecting his plea for parole.