New Delhi, Nov 7 (UNI) The Supreme Court has admitted the appeal filed by 17 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for the massacre of six dalits including the president and the vice-president of a village panchayat in Tamil Nadu.

The six dalits including Murugesan, the president and Mookan, the vice-president of Melavalavu panchayat were beheaded on June 30, 1997 by the upper caste people. In all 40 accused faced trial and 23 were acquitted while 17 were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

A bench comprising Justices A R Lakshmanan and Alatamas Kabir issued notices to the state of Tamil Nadu .

The petitioners have challenged their conviction which was upheld by Madras high court, on the ground that both the trial court as well as the high court have failed to appreciate that there was no evidence against the appellants.

The dispute arose when the panchayat constituency which used to be a general category constituency was made a reserved category by Tamil Nadu government in 1996.This led to great resentment among the general category candidates because now only the SC/ST candidates were allowed to contest Melavalavu panchayat election.

UNI AKS/SC SP BS1523