Friday, October 18, 2019

Purohit against freeing seven Rajiv case convicts

He disagreed with T.N. Cabinet’s stand


18/10/2019, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI


Banwarilal Purohit has not conveyed anything in writing to the government.

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit is said to have informally indicated to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami that he is not inclined to agree with the Cabinet’s recommendation to release seven life convicts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

As of now, Mr. Purohit has not conveyed anything in writing to the government about his decision. But the hint from him is that he would not like to go along with the Cabinet’s recommendation made in September last year for premature release of the convicts, according to multiple sources.

No surprise

The Governor’s position should not be a matter of surprise, an official explained, in the light of a Presidential Order issued through the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in April 2018.

In response to the State government’s proposal in February 2014 and March 2016 to release the convicts, the order said the move would “set a very dangerous precedent and lead to international ramifications”.

Before making its recommendation in September last year, the government received opinion from Advocate-General Vijay Narayan too. He held that the Governor had “unfettered power” under Article 161 (to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases) to decide on their release.

In the last year or so, the State government sent a few reminders to the Raj Bhavan, but the response was that the matter was under “consideration”, said the sources.

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