NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the families of the victims in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to amend their petitions and gave them permission to file additional documents. The victim families have been urging the government to not release the convicts in the case.
The bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, allowed the victims to amend their petition, filed in March 2014, and place on record the recent resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu government, which recommended to the Governor that the convicts be released and slated the hearing after four weeks.
Victim’s families in its plea had stated, “In the present case, the state government had overlooked the above proposition for narrow political gain and in one stroke ordered for release of Rajiv assassins. The attitude of the State government is against the constitutional value and national spirit and for narrow political consideration.”
“State should consider the effect of the release of the convicts on the families of the victims, society, and the precedent it would set for the future,” the plea stated.On Saturday, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit had denied seeking Centre’s reference on releasing the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Earlier this month, the court had asked the Governor to consider the mercy petition of A G Perarivalan, a convict in the assassination case.
But Centre had told the apex court that it does not concur with the Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying remission of their sentence will set a dangerous precedent and have international ramifications.
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