India / Remit sentence of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination convicts: TN CM to Prez

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin requested President Ram Nath Kovind to accept the recommendation of the state government and pass appropriate orders to remit the life sentence of all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The CM has demanded their immediate release.

In his letter, the CM said that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been demanding the early release of S Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, AG Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, and P Ravichandran, who were all convicted in the case of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi saying as "they have been undergoing the agony of imprisonment for about three decades."

It is also the will of the people of Tamil Nadu: MK Stalin

Stalin highlighted the commutation of the original death sentence of Nalini under Article 161 of the Constitution of India and added that the Supreme Court also commuted the death sentence of the other three convicts to that of life imprisonment. 

"The majority of the political parties in Tamil Nadu have been requesting for the remission of the remainder of their sentence and for the immediate release of all the 7 convicts as they have been incarcerated for about three decades. It is also the will of the people of Tamil Nadu," said Chief Minister Stalin.

He also cited the recommendation of the Edappadi Palanisamy government to Governor Banwarilal Purohit in September 2018 for the remission of the rest of the sentence for all the seven convicts and their early release.

“The purported obstacle for the exercise of the power of remission was the pendency of the investigation by the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency of CBI. It has been clarified by the respective stands of the Union government and CBI before the apex court that there is no connection between the remission of the sentence and investigation,” the CM said.

'Accept state govt's recommendation and pass orders to remit life sentences'

After the 2018 recommendation, the Governor had said that the President of India is the competent authority to decide on the plea of remission of sentence.

Saying that the convicts have paid a heavy price and already suffered untold hardship and agony in the past three decades, the CM added that in the present circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Courts are also recognizing the need to decongest prisons.

There has already been an inordinate delay in the consideration of their pleas for remission, said CM Stalin and requested the President to accept the recommendation of the state government and pass appropriate orders to remit the life sentence of all the seven convicts and direct their release immediately.

The DMK in its manifesto had promised efforts to secure the release of seven convicts.