CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit denied media reports claiming he had forwarded a State Government recommendation to the Union Home Ministry stating that all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination be released. A statement issued by the government said, “A section of media has been reporting that in the matter of the release of the convicted prisoners undergoing life imprisonment for involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, a reference has been made to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.”
It added, “It is clarified that no reference has been made to the Ministry of Home Affairs on the matter. The case is a complex one and involves the examination of legal, administrative and constitutional issues.”
The statement also said that a decision on the matter would be taken in a “just and fair manner” in accordance with the Constitution. The Tamil Nadu Cabinet had recommended the release of all seven Rajiv case convicts, incarcerated since 1991, on September 9. The Raj Bhavan said it was still receiving records from the Palaniswami Government in connection with the issue, and court judgments on related matters were handed over to it only on September 14.
The statement said, “All efforts will be taken to process the papers scrupulously. Necessary consultation may be carried out, when required, in due course. The decision will be taken in a just and fair manner and in accordance with the Constitution.” Back in 2014, when late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had attempted to release the seven convicts in 2014, the Centre had opposed on grounds that the case was still being investigated by a national agency. Later, the Union Home Ministry responded to a mercy petition filed by a convict saying that showing leniency to those accused of such a “heinous and brutal crime” would “set a very dangerous precedent and lead to international ramifications by other such criminals in the future.”
