Supreme Court orders release of 6 convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
The Supreme Court orders the premature release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts including Nalini and RP Ravichandran.The SC also found that the provisions under which Perarivalavan was released also apply to her. A court issued an order in a lawsuit filed by Nalini and her RP Ravichandran.The Supreme Court orders the release of six of her people, including Nalini and her RP Ravichandran, who are serving life sentences in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.The seven people convicted in the case were Nalini Sriharan, Murugan, Santan, AG Peralibaran, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P Ravichandran. Perarivalavan was released from prison in his May, while his remaining six inmates were serving their sentences in prisons in Tamil Nadu.All defendants were serving more than 30 years in prison in connection with this case.
The seven people convicted in the case were Nalini Sriharan, Murugan, Santan, AG Peralibaran, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P Ravichandran. Perarivalavan was released from prison in his May, while his remaining six inmates were serving their sentences in prisons in Tamil Nadu.All defendants were serving more than 30 years in prison in connection with this case.
Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, by a female suicide bomber identified as Danu at a campaign rally.In a ruling of May 1999, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences imposed on his four prisoners, Peralibaran, Murugan, Santan and Sriharan.However, in 2014 Perarivalan’s death sentence, and that of Santhan and Murugan, were commuted to life imprisonment due to a delayed decision on a lenient appeal. Nalini’s sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2001 because she has a daughter.The Tamil Nadu government had previously supported the early release of Nalini and Ravichandran, saying her 2018 recommendation on the release of life sentences would bind the governor.
