New Delhi: Indicating that it will not wait for the President’s decision on the remission plea of A G Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court said it will adjudicate the issue and pass an order on his plea as he has already spent more than 30 years in jail and his conduct has been good.
A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said the decision of Tamil Nadu governor to refer Perarivalan’s plea to the President despite the recommendation of the state Cabinet is “prima facie wrong” and against “country’s federal structure”. The court asked the Centre to be ready with its submission.
The bench said that under Article 161 of the Constitution, the governor was bound by the advice of the council of ministers which had in 2018 recommended release of the convict. The governor’s decision to refer the case to the President is prima facie wrong and against India’s federal structure and if the governor was not agreeable to the cabinet decision then he could have sent it back to the cabinet for reconsideration, it added.
“We cannot shut our eyes to something that is happening against the Constitution. We have to follow our Bible — the Constitution,” the bench said.
