CBI opposes plea for recall of order in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
NEWDELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday opposed a plea in the Supreme Court for recall of its 1999 order that convicted AG Perarivalan to life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, denying his assertion that there was faulty investigation.
On January 24, a bench headed by justice Ranjan Gogoi had asked for the agency’s reply to the recall plea. Perarivalan’s advocate claimed his confession was obtained by investigators through fraud by suppressing facts. A former cop, who was part of the probe team, recently gave a statement in support of Perarivalan.
In its affidavit, the CBI took a technical defence to oppose the petition. It said that Perarivalan’s review plea against the final verdict had been dismissed and, therefore, no question of recall arose. The only remedy for Perarivalan is to file a curative plea, it said.
“It is humbly submitted that the applicant (Perarivalan) was sentenced to death by the designated court, Chennai, and the same has been confirmed by this court. Mercy petitions were filed before his Excellency Governor of Tamil Nadu and her Excellency President of India, and were rejected,” read the CBI affidavit. Perarivalan’s death sentence was commuted to life on the ground that there was an unexplained inordinate delay in deciding on the mercy petition filed before the President. The CBI said his sentence was analysed on various fora in the past 24 years and it was not commuted on the shortcomings of the probe.