Supreme Court Orders Release of Rajiv Gandhi Assassins

New Delhi: In light of the Tamil Nadu government’s proposal, the Supreme Court ordered the release of all six lifers in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on Friday.

The top court had mandated A.G. Perarivalan’s release in May. Perarivalan was given a life sentence for the former prime minister’s assassination in 1991.

A bench comprising justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna pronounced the order for the release of the convicts.

The order further stated that the court’s ruling on Perarivalan applied to all other defendants in the case and that the Tamil Nadu government had advocated for the release of all defendants.

Earlier, S. Nalini and R.P. Ravichandran, two other convicts had prayed for release from prison. They had filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court’s decision.

The Tamil Nadu government responded to the applications by claiming that both had already served more than 30 years in prison and it had approved the remitting sentence for all seven offenders more than four years ago.

Exercising its exclusive powers to do “complete justice” granted by Article 142 of the constitution, the Supreme court ordered the release of Perarivalan on May 18, 2022.