SC seeks CBI response on plea to recall 1999 conviction

The Supreme Court asked the CBI on Wednesday to give its response to an application filed by a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking recall of the top court’s May 1999 order holding him guilty for participating in the conspiracy hatched to kill the former PM.

AG Perarivalan has based his plea on a recent statement given by then Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer, V Thiagarajan, who admitted the convict was not part of or aware of the conspiracy. A bench led by justice Ranjan Gogoi gave CBI three weeks to file its affidavit and fixed February 21 to hear the matter.

Gandhi was killed on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during an election rally by a woman suicide bomber.

As per the CBI case, Perarivalan had supplied two nine-volt batteries which were allegedly used in the improvised explosive device (IED) that killed Gandhi. The convict denied the charges.

However, Thiagarajan’s recent statement and also the affidavit he filed before the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to Perarivalan. The officer was then the superintendent of police of CBI.

In his confession to the CBI, Perarivalan had expressly said he was unaware of the conspiracy at the time when he purchased the batteries, Thiagarajan’s affidavit read.

Supreme Court had in May 1999 upheld the death sentence of four convicts — Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham and Nalini .

A year later the TN governor commuted Nalini’s death sentence. The top court had on February 18, 2014, commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan to life.

NEW DELHI: