New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has ordered the release of 6 more criminals, including the female convict Nalini, after serving 31 years in prison in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
According to Indian media, the Supreme Court in May released the 7th convict of Rajiv Gandhi assassination using its extraordinary powers and based on this release ordered the release of 6 more convicts in the same case.
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Apart from this, the court also noted that the Tamil Nadu Cabinet had recommended to the Governor in 2018 for the release of these persons and the Governor is bound by it. Therefore, like parareolin, they should be released.
Many in Tamil Nadu believe that the seven were too young to have played a minor role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Few knew.
It should be noted that Rajiv Gandhi's family also forgave these people due to their young age. Sri Haran's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Sonia Gandhi herself. In 2008, Rajiv Gandhi's daughter also met Sri Haran in jail.
After which the sentences of six more convicts were commuted in 2014 and the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa initiated steps to release them in the same year.
It may be recalled that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 in Tamil Nadu by a female suicide bomber belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group from Sri Lanka. 14 others were also killed. Initially, 7 accused were sentenced to death in this case.
Later, only 4 of the 7 were upheld, but 3 of them were commuted to life imprisonment, while 19 other accused were acquitted.
Why was Rajiv Gandhi killed?
The Tamil Tigers, demanding a separate country, launched a rebellion against the Sri Lankan government in 1983, during which the military and government officials were targeted. The civil war continued until the Sri Lankan Army defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
During the civil war, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi sent Indian troops to help the Sri Lankan army, which the Tamil Tigers resented and retaliated with a suicide attack in 1991.
Rajiv Gandhi's mistake of sending army to Sri Lanka was also recognized by his party Congress and his family also opposed it. In response, after the death of Rajiv Gandhi in the suicide attack of a young girl, the family pardoned the rest of the accused due to their young age.
