Chennai: Tamilnadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has reportedly given nod to the premature release of three life convicts in the sensational Dharmapuri bus burning case.

According to television reports this afternoon, following the Governor’s nod, the convicts would soon be freed from the prison.

The case relates to the death of Kokilavani, Gayathri and Hemalatha, all students of the Tamilnadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, when the bus they were travelling in along with 44 other students and two teachers was allegedly torched by the three convicts on 2 February, 2000, after the conviction of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a criminal case. Nedunchezhian, Ravindran and Muniappan were initially awarded the death penalty.

They got relief in March 2016 when the Supreme Court commuted their punishment to life imprisonment, saying that the incident was not pre-meditated.

The State government had recommended the premature release of about 1,800 life convicts lodged in central prisons across Tamilnadu on the occasion of the birth centenary of former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran.

The eligibility norm was that the convicts should have completed 10 years of imprisonment (five years in the case of those aged 60 years and above) as on 25 February 2018.