Will inform if Rajiv Gandhi case convicts in premature release list: Government to High Court

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government today informed the Madras High Court that they will find out and inform it whether the names of two life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case have been included in the list of 180 people proposed to be prematurely released on the eve of Republic Day.

The submission was made by the additional public prosecutor (APP) when a habaes corpus Petition filed by the two convicts -- Robert Payas and Jayakumar -- came up for hearing.

The two, whose death sentence was commuted to life by the Supreme Court on May 11, 1999, had filed the petition in 2012.

The apex court had upheld the death sentence for Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan and Nalini, commuted the sentence to life for Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran and freed 19 others.

The prosecutor told a division bench comprising Justices M Jayachendran and T Madivanany that around 180 people are proposed to be prematurely released and it has to be ascertained whether the names of Payas and Jayakumar are in the list.

The bench then directed the APP to verify it and inform the court by January 30 and adjourned the matter to that day.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.