Tamil Nadu government does not have power to release Rajiv Gandhi’s killers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday is likely to pronounce its verdict on whether or not the Tamil Nadu authorities might grant remission and release conspirators in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case after commutation of their demise sentence into life imprisonment by the apex courtroom on the grounds of inordinate delay by the President in deciding their mercy petition.

The Centre’s approval is mandatory for the Tamil Nadu government to remit the sentences of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers, the top court ruled.

“Order passed by Tamil Nadu government on release of seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to be decided by three judge bench”.

Earlier, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that states would have the power of remission only in cases not investigated by central agencies or pertaining to central laws like the now-repealed TADA or POTA. The court said that a three-judge bench will decide on the matter later while adding that states do not have the power to remit sentence.

The bench, which was unanimous in answering all the issues raised in the reference of a smaller bench, however, differed by 3:2 on the question as to whether courts can quantify the jail term in offences which prescribe life term as sentence. In cases involving central laws or those prosecuted by central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the state government would need the Centre’s concurrence to release prisoners, the court said in a three-two ruling.

The state government had wanted to know as to why Congress governments at the centre delayed the decision on their mercy pleas that led to commutation of their death sentence in the first place. The other four are undergoing life sentences for their role in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination on May 21, 1991, in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. Four others, including Murugan’s wife Nalini Sriharan, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran are serving life terms. Vinayakram Godse was the brother of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.