New Delhi, India (CU)_ The Supreme Court of India has approved the release of one of the men convicted of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991. Invoking special powers of the Supreme Court, judges headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao said, “The State cabinet had taken its decision based on relevant considerations. In exercise of Article 142, it is appropriate to release the convict”.
AG Perarivalan has served more than 30 years in prison. In 1998, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was eventually commuted. Perarivalan, who was just 19 when he was arrested, was found guilty of getting the batteries used in the explosion that killed Gandhi. The former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a female suicide bomber during an electoral rally in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was largely viewed as punishment for his 1987 deployment of Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka when he was prime minister. Perarivalan supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was a rebel organization in Sri Lanka fighting for an independent Tamil state. In 2009, the insurgents were eventually vanquished by Sri Lankan soldiers.
Perarivalan was one of seven individuals who were found guilty in the case. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India released Perarivalan after invoking a section of the Indian constitution that grants it extraordinary powers “for doing complete justice in any cause.” This was done in light of the fact that he had been imprisoned for more than 30 years already.
Over the years, governments in the state of Tamil Nadu have requested the release of individuals convicted of murder. In 2000, the state governor remitted Nalini’s death sentence, the only woman involved in the case. The death sentences of all the others involved in the case were commuted by the Supreme Court in 2014 due to a delay of 11 years in evaluating their pleas for clemency.
Following the judgement, Perarivalan thanked the people for their support. He said, “Truth and justice were on our side. This wouldn’t have happened without the support and love of the people. I firmly believe there is no need for capital punishment.” M K Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, applauded the decision, stating that it could be a milestone in the “Justice-law-political-administrative history.”
