KOCHI: Justice K T Thomas, who headed the Supreme Court bench that upheld the conviction of seven people in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on May 11, 1999, expressed his happiness after hearing about Perarivalan’s release from the prison after 31 years. He was critical of the Tamil Nadu governor’s action of not heeding the advice of the state cabinet.
Thirty-one years have passed since their arrest and Murugan, alias Sriharan; Nalini; AG Perarivalan; Santhan; Jayakumar; Robert Payas, and P Ravichandran still remain in jail for the assassination of former prime minister and Congress president Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. According to Justice Thomas, the same principle applies to the other six persons serving prison terms in the case.
Justice Thomas has been advocating the release of all convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on the legal grounds of remission. He said it was right on the part of the SC to invoke Article 142 to release Perarivalan. (Article 142 of the Constitution provides a special and extraordinary power to the Supreme Court to do complete justice to the litigants who have suffered traversed illegality or injustice in the proceedings.)
“Nowhere and no one has stated that if these six are released, they might prove to be dangerous to society. They should have been released after 14 years. Now, 30 years have passed,” he said. He said it was wrong on the Tamil Nadu governor’s part to sit on the council of ministers’ advice. “He had been claiming that he didn’t have the power to release the prisoners. The governor had said that only the Union government has the authority to release them. However, the SC ruling negates the governor’s claims,” said Justice Thomas.
According to him, the reason has been stated clearly in the SC ruling. “The apex court has said that no exercise under Article 161 can be delayed indefinitely and that it can be subjected to judicial review. Article 161 gives powers to the governor to pardon or remit the sentence of any convict,” he added.
In Perarivalan’s case, the Tamil Nadu government had recommended his release in 2018.
“If the governor doesn’t take action, then the Article turns into a dead letter. The governor’s role, according to the Constitution, is to act as per the advice of the council of ministers. He cannot act independently. He can delay it, but why did he delay it? It is a matter concerning the life of a human being,” said Justice Thomas.
According to him, the governor can decide for the others too in the backdrop of the SC ruling in Perarivalan’s case. “If the governor doesn’t, then they too will have to take the legal route and approach the SC,” he added. Perarivalan was arrested when he was 19.