A sessions judge on Thursday convicted and sentenced a member of Tamil Pasarai to life for planting a bomb at the venue of the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting in 1990, which then Prime Minister V.P. Singh was to attend.
The first additional sessions judge K. Dakshnamoorthy found Chidambaram guilty of offences under the provisions of TADA and under the Explosive Substances Act and awarded life sentence to him.
The accused was charged with planting a bomb in the secretariat complex in Chennai where the NIC meeting was to be held on September 23, 1990. Those slated to participate, other than the Prime Minister, included the Tamil Nadu chief minister.
Minutes before the meeting, head constable V.M. Rajendran found the bomb and defused it and a case was registered.
“The object of the organisation (Tamil Pasarai) of which the accused is a member is secession of Tamil Nadu state from the Union of India. To achieve their objective they committed illegal act and went to the extent of attempting to damage the central government and state government buildings to overawe the governments established by law.
If such kind of activity is allowed it will be a serious threat to Indian sovereignty and the safety of the public will be jeopardized. Therefore, I am of the view that the accused deserves a deterrent sentence,” said the judge.