Rahul Gandhi lashes out at Jayalalithaa for announcing release of Rajiv Gandhi murder convicts

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Jayalalithaa government’s proposal to release seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He received backing from the Union Home Ministry, which said the state can’t remit the sentence without the Centre’s approval as the killing of a former PM constituted an act of terror.

“In this country even the PM does not get justice… If some person kills the PM and is released, then how will a common man get justice? It's a point to ponder. This is my heart’s voice. I don't believe in capital punishment, as it won't bring my father back. But it is not just a matter of my father or the family, it is the matter of the country,” Gandhi said in Amethi.

Jayalalithaa had announcement in the assembly on Wednesday that she would release all seven convicts, if the Centre failed to respond to her proposal in three days. Jayalalithaa said that since the case was investigated by CBI, the state government would consult the Centre under mandatory provisions provided under Section 435 of the CrPC.

“The state government will send the Cabinet’s decision to the Centre. If the Centre fails to respond in three days, my government will release them immediately under the power conferred on it by the Constitution,” she said. Her statement came a day after the Supreme Court commuted the sentences of convicts, Murugan, Santhan nd AG Perarivalan, to life imprisonment.

In a rare act of solidarity with Congress, BJP too condemned the Tamil Nadu government’s move. “Rajiv Gandhi was a former Prime Minister and a terrorist attacking PM or Parliament is a grave act against national sovereignty. When institutions are soft on such grave concern, it is a matter of worry to BJP,” said spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman. However, DMK and Left parties welcomed Jayalaithaa’s move to free the convicts who have spent over two decades in jail.

The Home Ministry, quoted the same rule to say that no order of remission or suspension of the sentence by the state government “shall have effect” unless the same is also done by the Centre in case of a terror offence.