Tamil Nadu government agrees for premature release of Rajiv Gandhi assassins

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday in the Supreme Court recommended the pre-mature release of Nalini Sriharan and RP Ravichandran, convicts who are serving life imprisonment in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Tamil Nadu government in its affidavit said that its 2018 aid and advice for the remission of their life sentence is binding upon the Governor. Nalini and Ravichandran have approached the apex court seeking release from the prison-like fellow convict AG Perarivalan.

Tamil Nadu government said that in the cabinet meeting held on September 9, 2018, it had considered mercy petitions of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and resolved to recommend the Governor for the remission of their life sentences invoking the power granted under Article 161 of the Constitution.

The law relating to the power of the Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution and the power of the state government in dealing with the offenses (302 of IPC) falls within the exclusive domain of the state government and is also well settled, said Tamil Nadu.

The state government said that it is the competent authority to take a decision on the petition filed by Nalini and Ravichandran under Article 161 of the Constitution and "the decision of the state cabinet dated September 9, 2018, thereon is final and it can be exercised by Governor of Tamil Nadu as per the aid and advice of the cabinet".

The recommendation of the state government remitting the life sentence of the petitioner was sent to the Governor of Tamil Nadu for approval on September 11, 2018, and the same was kept pending with his office for more than two and half years and the recommendation was finally forwarded by the Governor to the President on January 27, 2021, and it still remains undecided for the past one year and nine months, it said.

Nalini and Ravichandran had approached the Supreme Court citing the judgment of the top court in the case of co-convict AG Perarivalan where he was released. Earlier, both had knocked the Madras High Court seeking the same relief, however, the High Court had refused to entertain the petition. The Madras High Court while turning down the petition had stated that it did not have special powers that the Supreme Court has under Article 142 of the Constitution. Hence, it cannot order their release, as the Supreme Court did for Perarivalan in May 2022.