Centre Seeks Review Of SC’s Order Releasing Rajiv Gandhi Assassins

New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s decision to release all six of the defendants in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been challenged by the Centre.

The Center said in the review petition that because it was not made a party to the hearing and its viewpoint was not taken into consideration, the court was not made aware of multiple blatant mistakes on the record.

On November 11, the Supreme Court issued a ruling authorising the early release of six prisoners: Robert Payas, S. Nalini, R.P. Ravichandran, Sriharan, Santhan, and Murugan.

The decision was made after a panel of Justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna noted that the inmates’ behaviour was good inside the prison and that they had been there for a very long time.

The six defendants in the case were all given life sentences and were already more than 20 years into their incarceration.

The release of prisoners had drawn harsh criticism from Congress. However, a number of Tamil parties, including the state’s dominant DMK, a Congress ally, had long advocated for the inmates’ release.

The Madras High Court was then petitioned by Nalini and Ravichandran for their own release, citing Perarivalan’s case. However, the high court rejected their request. The high court order was then challenged in a motion to the top court. Later, similar appeals were submitted before the supreme court by the remaining four inmates.