New Delhi: The Supreme Court today ordered the premature release of all six convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts. A bench comprising of Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna passed the order following the direction passed on May 17 which granted to relief to Perarivalan, another convict in the case. The judgement was in exercise of its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
The bench noted that the Tamil Nadu State Cabinet had recommended their premature release to the Governor in September 2018. The Governor was bound by the advice of the Cabinet in cases of murder as their convictions under the now-lapsed Terrorism and Disruptive (Prevention) Act was set aside by the apex court.
The honourable court released the convicts Nalini Srihar, Robert Pais, Ravichandran, Suthenthira Raja, Santhan, Shriharan, Murugan and Jaikumar. “The appellants are directed to be set at liberty if not required in any other matter”, ordered the bench.
While ordering the convicts, Justices Gavai and Nagarathna took into account the fact that each of the six convicts had individually exhibited satisfactory conduct during their long incarceration. In Nalini’s case, the court said that she was a woman and had already spent more than 3 decades in incarceration.