Centre moves SC against Jaya’s decision to free Rajiv Gandhi killers

mangaloretoday.com /CNN

New Delhi, Feb 20: The Central government has filed an application in the Supreme court against Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The apex court is likely to hear the matter at 12:30 pm on Thursday.

 

Sources say the Centre may also seek a review of the Supreme Court verdict of commuting the death sentence of the killers to life imprisonment. They add that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make a statement the on release of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins.

 

Meanwhile, the daughter of two of the killers, Nalini and Murugan, has expressed happiness with the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to free her parents.

Thanking Jayalalithaa, Nalini and Murugan’s daughter Harithra said, "Jayalalithaa Amma gave me the best present in the world. It means the world to me. I thank a millions times, of course words aren’t enough to describe how thankful I am."

In an interview to the website TNM’s managine editor Dhanya Rajendran, Nalini and Murugan’s daughter Harithra also appealed to Rahul Gandhi to allow her parents to be released. "I am extremely sorry for their father’s loss. The amount of pain they went through I have been going through for the past 23 years without both my parents. I believe my parents are innocent."

This comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced that all seven Rajiv Gandhi killers - AG Perarivalan alias Arivu, Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthentiraraja alias Santhan, Sriharan’s wife Nalini, B Robert Payas, S Jayakumar and P Ravichandran - will be freed. She also set a three-day deadline for the Centre to respond to the decision, failing which she warned that the state government will "execute its decision".


Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had on Wednesday voiced his displeasure over the decision. This comes even as Congress President Sonia Gandhi had pleaded the death sentence of her husband’s killers to be changed to life imprisonment. The Congress party, however, defended the differing views of the party president and vice president saying that, "as far as the decision of the Supreme Court is concerned, we abide by the decision of commuting death to life."

The Congress questioned the Tamil Nadu government decision. "It is the release which is the focal issue here. These 3 people were on life sentence from 1999. Why did not the TN government take an initiative to release them then? Why is there a dubious standing now," asked Congress spokesperson CR Kesavan.