Centre moves Supreme Court against proposed release of Rajiv Gandhi killers

NEW DELHI: The central government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against the proposed decision of the Tamil Nadu government to release all seven convicted for the Rajiv Gandhi murder case.

Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran mentioned the matter urgently before a bench led by outgoing P Sathasivam. The bench will hear the plea at 12.45.

Parasaran said that the appropriate government to take a decision on the release was the central government as the case was tried by the CBI and the accused had been charged under several central acts such as the arms act, the explosives act and the foreigners act.

The Tamil Nadu government had on Wednesday issued their release orders under section 435 criminal procedure code, which allows States to remit prison terms on grounds of good behaviour and humanitarian considerations, and issued a three-day ultimatum on February 24 for the centre to concur with it.

The Jayalalithaa government said that the release would go through if the centre failed to respond in three days.

On Thursday, Parasaran referred to the ultimatum to the centre and sought a stay on the proposed release of the seven convicts.

The Tamil Nadu decision came a day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted the deaths sentence of three men convicted in the case from deaths to life. One of the three is a Sri Lankan national. The other two were Indians.

The decision came in the run-up to the 2014 general polls where the issue of Tamil pride will be a key poll consideration. The Jaya decision will create problems in any alliance between her rival in the state DMK if it were to back the central decision not to release the prisoners, a highly emotive issue in the state.