M A I N   N E W S

Don’t free Rajiv Gandhi killers, SC tells Jaya govt
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, February 20
The Supreme Court today directed the Tamil Nadu Government not to release the three life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case till further orders. A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam passed the order on a petition filed by the Centre objecting to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s hasty move to release them after their death penalty was commuted to life sentence by the Supreme Court on February18.

Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran contended that the state government had rendered the need for consultations with the Centre meaningless by announcing that the three convicts - Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan - would be set free if there was no response from the Centre within three days.

The SG said the Centre had also decided to seek a review of the SC verdict, particularly the court’s clarification that the state government was free to grant remissions in their life sentence and decide on their release. The remission issue was pending with a Constitution Bench of the apex court, he said.

During the hearing, the Bench, which included Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana, observed that the state government appeared to have committed procedural lapses which would be examined by it.

The Bench also granted liberty to the Centre to challenge the state government’s decision to release another four life convicts - Nalini, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran. All seven were part of a conspiracy, hatched by Sri Lanka’s terror outfit LTTE, that resulted in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991.

Centre’s take

• The state government had rendered the need for consultations with the Centre meaningless by announcing that the three convicts — Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan — would be set free if there was no response from the Centre within three days, said Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran
• The SG said the Centre had also decided to seek a review of the SC verdict, particularly the court’s clarification that the state government was free to grant remissions in their life sentence and decide on their release
• The remission issue was pending with a Constitution Bench of the apex court, he said