Centre challenges release of convicts in Rajiv Gandhi case by Supreme Court

The Centre filed a petition in the Supreme Court to review the order, after six people, including a woman, were released last week from a prison in Tamil Nadu.

They had spent 31 years in prison.

The six remaining life-term convicts were Nalini Sriharan, her husband Murugan, Santhan, Robert Payas, RP Ravichandran and Jayakumar, who were formally released from Tamil Nadu jails on Nov 12 after spending 31 years in prison, media reports said.

The Centre has contended that the release of the convicts was cleared without it being given an adequate hearing which has led to an "admitted and glaring breach of principles of natural justice and has, in fact, resulted into miscarriage of justice".

"In such a sensitive matter, the assistance of Union of India was of paramount importance as the matter has huge repercussions on the public order, peace, tranquillity and criminal justice system of the country," the government said.

The Centre also said that given four of the six convicts were Sri Lankan and convicted of being terrorists "for the gruesome offence of assassinating the former Prime Minister of the country", granting them remission was "a matter which has international ramifications and therefore falls squarely within the sovereign powers of the Union of India."

Their release came after AG Perarivalan, the seventh convict, was freed by Supreme Court in May, using its extraordinary powers.

The same order applied to the rest of the convicts, the court had said.

The court also stated that since the Tamil Nadu cabinet had recommended to the Governor in 2018 that the convicts be freed and the Governor was bound by it.

Murugan, Santhan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar are Sri Lankan nationals.

After their release, all four were taken to a refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli.

Perarivalan, and his mother Arputhammal, two other convicts set free in May, received them at the refugee camp, the report said.

Santhan had already expressed his intention to return to Sri Lanka, he added.

The Congress party strongly opposed the release of the convicts of Rajiv Gandhi's assassins while maintaining that they did not agree with the views of Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.

While ordering the release, the Supreme Court noted that the convicts had shown satisfactory behaviour, acquired degrees, written books, and had also participated in social service, stated the report.