Chennai: In a major development, the Tamil Nadu government decided to release the seven persons convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. All these seven have spent the last 24 years in prison after the capital punishment awarded to them was commuted to life in prison.
The seven convicts had filed petitions and taking these petitions in to consideration, Government of Tamil Nadu has decided to remit the sentences of life imprisonment and release the seven persons, since all seven have already served imprisonment for 24 years, said Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan in his letter to the union home secretary.
With this, seven convicts- AG Perarivalan alias Arivu, Sriharan alias Murugan and T Suthentiraraja alias Santhan, Sriharan’s wife Nalini, B Robert Payas, S Jayakumar and P Ravichandran who have spent 24 years in jail ever since their arrest after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in a suicide bomb blast at Sriperumbuthur near Chennai on March 21, 1991 will walk free.
About two years ago, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had announced in the State assembly that her government has decided to release them, asking the Centre to respond in three days. The then UPA government challenged this, and the release was stayed by the Supreme Court, which stayed the remission order.
“Meanwhile, the Government have now received petitions from the convicts, with requests to release them from prison. Nalini has also filed a writ petition in Madras High Court requesting the government to release her,” noted the chief secretary’s letter.
