New Delhi [India], August 24 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Kerala government to respond to a plea filed by death-row convict Muhammed Ameer-Ul-Islam seeking his transfer from Viyyur Central Prison in Kerala to a prison in Assam, where his wife and elderly parents reside.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu asked Kerala to file its response on the transfer of the petitioner to an Assam jail.
The apex court was hearing Ameer-Ul-Islam’s plea in connection with the 2016 rape and murder of a Dalit law student in Perumbavoor, Keralam. He is the sole accused convicted and sentenced to death in the case.
Senior advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Ameer-Ul-Islam, said that ordinarily, a death-row prisoner cannot be transferred until the appeal period has expired or the appeal has been decided, and in the present case, that stage had already been crossed.
The Kerala High Court had already confirmed the death sentence and that the relevant appellate proceedings had concluded, she said.
The bench, however, questioned whether the Assam government had consented to receiving Ameer-Ul-Islam.
John responded that Assam had not yet taken a decision because the State was awaiting Kerala’s approval of the proposed transfer. Counsel appearing for Assam similarly informed the apex court that the State would consider the request if Kerala permitted the transfer.
Ameer-Ul-Islam, an Assam native and migrant worker, was convicted in December 2017 for the rape and murder of a Dalit law student at Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. The trial court primarily relied on DNA evidence and witness testimony before sentencing him to death.
The Kerala High Court later confirmed the sentence. The Supreme Court stayed his execution in July 2024.
He has now sought a transfer to Assam, stating that his wife and aged parents are based in Assam and are financially unable to travel frequently to Kerala to meet him. (ANI)
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