VELLORE: Naam Thamizhar Katchi leader Seeman on Thursday urged the Tamil Nadu government to release A G Perarivalan, Murugan, Nalini Sriharan, Santhan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar, Ravichandran, all of whom who were convicted for life in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, under the provision of Article 161 of the Constitution of India.
After meeting Arivu, Santhan and Murugan in the Vellore Central Prison for Men (and later Nalini in the Special Prison for Women) on Thursday, Seeman addressing the media pointed out that the Tamil Nadu assembly had passed a resolution early 2014 to release the seven life convicts. The government had then sent a letter to the Union government seeking its view on the resolution. Instead of giving its opinion, the Centre approached the Supreme Court and obtained a stay order against the Tamil Nadu government’s decision. However, the apex court’s Constitution Bench, in its recent verdict, has said that there is no legal binding for a State Government over exercising the powers under Article 161, he said and added, “We demand the TN Government to adopt a resolution to release the seven life convicts under the provision of Article 161 and send a recommendation to the Governor.”