Aastha Thakur
Published on: 11 November 2022 at 14:33 IST
Supreme Court directed six accused – Nalini, Ravichandran, Jayakumar, Robert Pais, Jayakumar and Santhan to be set free. The convicts were originally awarded death penalty, which was later on commuted to life imprisonment.
These six accused were convicted in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The decision was given by the Divisional Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna, stating that the convicts had already spent a major part of 30 years in jail. They are reformed, have spent time studying and earning degrees.
All the offenders have been fighting for their premature release for a very long time. The Governor had been advised to release them by the Tamil Nadu government. However, the Governor, who had submitted their files to the President, did not, take any decision.
In early May, one of the convicts, A.G. Perarivalan was ordered to release by the apex court under the discretionary powers given under Article 142 of the Constitution, for doing complete justice.
Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally.