In Brief
Six men were convicted of murdering Rajagopalan, President of Hindu Munnani Association, in Madurai on 10 October 1994, under conspiracy and TADA provisions. The Supreme Court quashed all convictions and sentences, finding that the sanction for prosecuting under TADA was invalid. The sanctioning authorities mechanically approved the TADA charges without applying their minds to critical evidence and without establishing that the murder was intended to strike terror in the public mind—an essential element under TADA Section 3(1). The Court held that a single murder, however violent, does not constitute terrorism without the specific intent to terrorize. The confessions were also involuntary. Non-compliance with the mandatory prior approval requirement vitiated the entire proceedings.",
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