New Delhi, May 20 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced nine persons to life imprisonment in a 2013 murder case of a doctor in Tamil Nadu, reversing the Madras high court's 2024 order that had acquitted them due to a lack of evidence. While directing seven of the convicts to surrender in two weeks, the court suspended the sentence for two elderly people, one of whom is a woman, until their plea for pardon is decided by the state executive. While doing so, the bench of justices MM Sundresh and SC Sharma said, "We would like to make it clear that these observations are not intended to condone their actions, but are made only for the limited purpose of appreciating the human factors underlying their conduct." The trial court had sentenced to death all nine accused for the murder of Dr Subbiah, a reputed doctor working with Billroth Hospital in Chennai, on September 14, 2013. On appeal, the Madras high court on June 14, 2024, reversed the finding of guilt and acquitted all accused, which included the elderly couple P Ponnusamy and Mary Pushpam. Their two sons-Basil and Boris-were allegedly involved in the murder conspiracy, and hatched the plan by roping in six people to execute the attack on the doctor as he was returning from work. One among the six turned approver and spilt the beans on the conspiracy, which established how Ponnuamy gave Rs.6.5 lakh to execute the crime, as the elderly couple sought to secure doctor's property for their children. The Tamil Nadu government, represented by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appealed the high court judgment."...