TN resolves to release 7 Rajiv convicts
Recommendation To Purohit Based On SC Order; But No Deadline Yet
D Govardan & Shanmughasundaram J TNN
Chennai:
A week after the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu governor to consider the mercy petition of A G Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination case, the state cabinet met on Sunday and passed a resolution asking governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all the seven convicts in the case under Article 161 of the Constitution.
“The recommendation of the state cabinet, headed by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, will be sent to the governor immediately,” fisheries minister D Jayakumar told reporters at the end of the cabinet meeting that lasted for two hours. “The governor is the executive authority. He will execute the government’s decision,” Jayakumar said without committing to a deadline.
State law minister C Ve Shanmugam said the government was firm on ensuring that Amma’s (Jayalalithaa’s) resolve to release the prisoners was “realised”. “This comes under the provision of Article 161 of the Constitution, and based on the Supreme Court’s recent order, we have recommended to the governor to release them,” Shanmugam said.
“The SC has clearly said the state government has the powers to act on this. The cabinet has now resolved to recommend the release of all the seven convicts. The governor is bound by that and they will be released soon,” noted lawyer and constitutional expert Mohan Parasaran told TOI. All the seven convicts, Nalini Sriharan, Murugan alias Sriharan, Perarivalan alias Arivu, Robert Payas, Ravichandran, Santhan and Jayakumar, are in jail for the last 27 years.
Experts divided on prisoners’ freedom
While most legal experts and the convicts’ counsels say the governor has to act as per the recommendation of the cabinet — with some saying that he may at best delay the decision but cannot deny it — political analyst like Tharaasu Shyam differ. “The executive powers of a state lies within the boundaries of the state. SC has already ruled that it is a CBI case, and remission is possible only with the Centre’s concurrence,” he said. P 5
FRESH HOPE
Perarivalan’s mother meets CM, thanks him
Even as the convicts hope for an early release, it is pertinent to note that CBI had argued, even in the recent past, that its Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), probing the larger conspiracy aspect behind Rajiv’s assassination, had proved the role of all the convicts, including Perarivalan, and the same had been upheld by the top court.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the Centre’s approval was mandatory for releasing the convicts as the case was being probed by the CBI.
In August 2011, the Tamil Nadu assembly had passed a
resolution to recommend to the Centre to commute the death sentence of the convicts to life term imprisonment. Subsequently, in February 2014, the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa had announced that her government has decided to release all the seven convicts in the wake of the SCcommuting the death sentence of some convicts into life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Perarivalan’s mother Arputhammal met the chief minister and thanked the government for taking a decision favouring the release of her son and six others. “It has brought peace to the families of the seven, who have been in jail for 27 years,” she said.
Recommendation To Purohit Based On SC Order; But No Deadline Yet
D Govardan & Shanmughasundaram J TNN
Chennai:
A week after the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu governor to consider the mercy petition of A G Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination case, the state cabinet met on Sunday and passed a resolution asking governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all the seven convicts in the case under Article 161 of the Constitution.
“The recommendation of the state cabinet, headed by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, will be sent to the governor immediately,” fisheries minister D Jayakumar told reporters at the end of the cabinet meeting that lasted for two hours. “The governor is the executive authority. He will execute the government’s decision,” Jayakumar said without committing to a deadline.
State law minister C Ve Shanmugam said the government was firm on ensuring that Amma’s (Jayalalithaa’s) resolve to release the prisoners was “realised”. “This comes under the provision of Article 161 of the Constitution, and based on the Supreme Court’s recent order, we have recommended to the governor to release them,” Shanmugam said.
“The SC has clearly said the state government has the powers to act on this. The cabinet has now resolved to recommend the release of all the seven convicts. The governor is bound by that and they will be released soon,” noted lawyer and constitutional expert Mohan Parasaran told TOI. All the seven convicts, Nalini Sriharan, Murugan alias Sriharan, Perarivalan alias Arivu, Robert Payas, Ravichandran, Santhan and Jayakumar, are in jail for the last 27 years.
Experts divided on prisoners’ freedom
While most legal experts and the convicts’ counsels say the governor has to act as per the recommendation of the cabinet — with some saying that he may at best delay the decision but cannot deny it — political analyst like Tharaasu Shyam differ. “The executive powers of a state lies within the boundaries of the state. SC has already ruled that it is a CBI case, and remission is possible only with the Centre’s concurrence,” he said. P 5
FRESH HOPE
Perarivalan’s mother meets CM, thanks him
Even as the convicts hope for an early release, it is pertinent to note that CBI had argued, even in the recent past, that its Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), probing the larger conspiracy aspect behind Rajiv’s assassination, had proved the role of all the convicts, including Perarivalan, and the same had been upheld by the top court.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the Centre’s approval was mandatory for releasing the convicts as the case was being probed by the CBI.
In August 2011, the Tamil Nadu assembly had passed a
resolution to recommend to the Centre to commute the death sentence of the convicts to life term imprisonment. Subsequently, in February 2014, the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa had announced that her government has decided to release all the seven convicts in the wake of the SCcommuting the death sentence of some convicts into life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Perarivalan’s mother Arputhammal met the chief minister and thanked the government for taking a decision favouring the release of her son and six others. “It has brought peace to the families of the seven, who have been in jail for 27 years,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment