TN Guv says 'President competent to decide' on Rajiv Gandhi Assassination convict's pardon

Passing the buck to President Kovind, Tamil Nadu governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Wednesday has proposed that the President is competent to deal with the request of remission of sentence Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan. As per the affidavit filed by the Home Ministry in the Supreme Court, the MHA has stated the government will process the proposal in accordance with the law. The Supreme Court had asked the Governor to decide on Perivalan's pardon within 2 weeks after the plea has been kept pending by the Governor for over 2 years.

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Perarivalan's remission plea

The plea pertains to 46-year-old Perarivalan who is seeking suspension of his life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case till the MDMA probe is completed. A G Perarivalan, Nalini, her husband Murugan, T. Suthendraraja, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, and P Ravichandran are the seven convicts in the assassination case who have been in prison for over 30 years. With Congress ally-DMK demanding the release of all 7 convicts, CM E Palaniswami has assured that they will be released soon.

Last year in November, the top court had expressed unhappiness over the pendency of Perarivalan's pardon before the Tamil Nadu Governor for over 2 years. The CBI had also asserted that it had no role as far as the relief was concerned stating, "It is for the His Excellency Governor of Tamil Nadu to take a call on the issue whether remission is to be granted or not and in so far as relief is concerned in the present matter CBI has no role. Present petitioner is not the subject matter of the further investigation carried out by MDMA".Thereafter, Perarivalan was granted parole from November 9 to November 23 by the Madras High Court on 'medical grounds.'

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Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumpudur on May 21, 1991. Several relatives of those killed along with Rajiv Gandhi had opposed the release of these convicts, but the   AIADMK government had adopted a resolution recommending to Governor Banwarilal Purohit the release of all seven convicts. But the Governor has been sitting on the pardon since 2018.

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