Cong to move SC against release of convicts

NEW DELHI: The Congress will seek a review of the Supreme Court decision to release six convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, senior party leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Monday.

“We are yet to decide on the modalities -- whether we will intervene in the Central government’s review application or intervene otherwise,” Singhvi told PTI.

The Congress, in principle, has decided to seek a review of the apex court decision, he said. The review will be sought in the next few days, a party insider added.

Facing criticism from the Congress, the government last week moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order for the premature release of the convicts in the case.

On November 11, the apex court had ordered the release of six convicts including Nalini Sriharan and RP Ravichandran. This came months after the Supreme Court had granted bail to a convict AG Perarivalan on May 18. Then, the court had invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the constitution to release him on grounds of poor health and good conduct. The SC’s reasoning in the release of six convicts had mirrored the one during Perarivalan’s release.

Perarivalan, Nalini Sriharan, Murugan alias Sriharan, Santhan, RP Ravichandran, Robert Payas and S Jayakumar were arrested in 1991. Four of them, including Nalini’s husband Sriharan happen to be Sri Lankan nationals.

On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur by a woman suicide bomber of Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Lok Sabha poll campaign. The killing was largely seen as a brutal fallout of his decision to send over 1,000 Indian forces to the island nation in 1987 to disarm the Tamil rebels.

Besides Nalini and Ravichandran, the four others released were Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar.

The Centre had said the order granting remission to the convicts, who had assassinated the former prime minister, was passed without affording it adequate opportunity for hearing despite it being a necessary party to the case.

The government highlighted the alleged procedural lapse, saying the convicts seeking remission did not formally implead the Centre as a party which resulted in its non-participation in the case.

The Congress had then termed the top court order ‘totally unacceptable’ and ‘completely erroneous’.

It had also stated that the convicts have been released from the prison and not acquitted, and should not be seen as ‘heroes’.

THE GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK MOVED THE SC SEEKING A REVIEW OF ITS ORDER FOR THE PREMATURE RELEASE OF THE CONVICTS