Tamil Nadu will need Centre’s approval to release Rajiv Gandhi case convicts

NEW DELHI: The J Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu will need the central government's approval to release the seven persons convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Supreme Court clarified on Wednesday.

A five-judge bench headed by chief justice H.L. Dattu, who demits office today, said states cannot remit sentences on their own without a convict seeking such leniency.

It also said a life term meant the rest of a prisoner's life and not 14 years.

In cases involving central laws or those prosecuted by central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the state government would need the Centre's concurrence to release prisoners, the court said in a three-two ruling.

However, the court could put some categories of prisoners convicted for heinous offences beyond remission.