M.K. Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, demanded release of 7 convicts for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India.
The new Tamil Nadu CM and the President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) pointed out that the convicts who were given imprisonment for life have spent more than three decades in jail. However, now they should be released. In regard to this, M.K. Stalin wrote a letter to the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. In the letter, the DMK Chief said, “These seven persons have already suffered untold hardship and agony in the past three decades and have paid a heavy price. There has already been an inordinate delay in the consideration of their pleas for remission. In the present circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, courts are also recognising the need to decongest prisons.”
M.K. Stalin said, “The majority of the political parties in Tamil Nadu have been requesting for the remission of the remainder of their sentence and for immediate release of all the seven convicts as they have been incarcerated for about three decades. It is also the will of the people of Tamil Nadu (sic.) ” He urged the President of India to accept the request and order the release of the convicts.
It is to be noted, in September 2018, the Tamil Nadu Government made a similar request to the President of India. The then State Government recommended the Tamil Nadu Governor for the remission of the rest of the sentence for all seven convicts and their early release. The convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case include names like S. Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, A.G. Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P. Ravichandran.
M.K. Stalin also said that Nalini’s original death sentence was commuted under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution. However, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of the other three convicts to that of life imprisonment
The letter written by the DMK President was handed over to the President’s Office by the DMK Member of Parliament (MP) T.R. Baalu.
