Tamil Nadu

Can’t force Governor for premature release of Rajiv assassination convicts: TN Public Prosecutor

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CHENNAI: THE Governor cannot be pressurised by the State government, to grant his approval for the premature release of all the seven accused in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan told a division bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday.

When the petition from one of the accused S Nalini, came up for hearing before the bench of Justices R Subbaiah and C Saravanan on Tuesday, Natarajan told the judges that the government cannot exert pressure on the Governor, to countersign the resolution passed by it.

It is an inherent power vested with the Governor under the Constitution, to take a decision on the recommendations made by the State government in September 2018, and the government cannot insist that the Governor should take a decision immediately. The bench reserved its orders on the petition.

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