Centre Seeks Review Of Supreme Court Order Releasing 6 Convicts In Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case
The Central Government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the November 11 order allowing the release of all convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case saying that the order was passed without hearing it.Since the matter related to the assassination of a former Prime Minister, the Court ought to have heard the Union Government before passing the order, the...
The Central Government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the November 11 order allowing the release of all convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case saying that the order was passed without hearing it.
Since the matter related to the assassination of a former Prime Minister, the Court ought to have heard the Union Government before passing the order, the review petition stated. The Centre pointed out that the petitions/applications were filed in the Supreme Court without making Union Government a party.
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna had passed the order allowing the premature release of 6 convicts in the case - Nalini Sriharan, Robert Pais, Ravichandran, Suthenthira Raja @ Santhan, Shriharan @ Murugan and Jaikumar, based on the recommendation made by the Tamil Nadu Government in 2018 to commute their sentence.
The bench followed the earlier order passed on May 18 for the premature release of another convict in the case AG Perarivalan.
Background
25 persons, including the appellants, were sentenced to death by the TADA Court for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1998. When the matter travelled to the Supreme Court, a Bench headed by Justice K.T. Thomas acquitted 19 convicts, but upheld the death sentences of four of them(Perivalan, Sriharan, Santhan and Nalini). Three others were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2000 by the Tamil Nadu government.
In 2014, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan, Sriharan and Santhan to life imprisonment.
In 2018, the AIADMK Cabinet recommended the release of the seven convicts, but the Governor refused to authorise this remission.
After the Supreme Court ordered the release of Perarivalan, Nalin and Ravichandran moved the Madras High Court seeking premature release. However, the Madras High Court dismissed their petition observing that it lacks the special powers enjoyed by the Supreme Court under Article 142.