SC Orders Immediate Release Of Veg. Vendor Jailed 451 Days For Counterfeit Notes

The Supreme Court has recently provided significant relief to a vegetable vendor from Tamil Nadu by not only quashing his jail sentence but also ordering his immediate release.

Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice J.B. Pardiwala of the bench have issued an order for the immediate release of Palanisamy, a resident of the Theni district in Tamil Nadu.

In its order, the Supreme Court stated that the allegations against him were filed under Section 489C of the IPC, while the main accused in this case is still at large.

The Court stated that considering all aspects, while upholding the guilt, they modify the sentence. The bench stated that unless required in any other case, the appellant should be released immediately.

Essentially, Section 489C of the IPC is related to the offense of possessing counterfeit currency notes, which can lead to imprisonment for up to 7 years or a fine, or both.

Palanisamy was pronounced guilty by the lower court on January 8, 2014, for this offense and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. On October 24, 2019, the Madras High Court reduced the imprisonment term to 5 years.

This decision of the Madras High Court was challenged in the Supreme Court.