Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case: From Chargesheets To Cabinet Support, Everything That Led To Release Of 7 Convicts

Convicted for the 1991 assassination of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the six convicts serving life sentences were released by the Supreme Court using its extraordinary powers. The convicts had served 31 years behind bars, after which their request for release was granted on the grounds of "satisfactory behaviour" during their jail term.

Earlier in May, the Supreme Court used its powers to free one of the accused, Perarivalan. The same order has been applied in the case of Nalini, Sriharan, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and RP Ravichandran. During their prison time, they reportedly acquired degrees, wrote books, participated in social service, and maintained good behaviour, which motivated the court to make the decision.

The Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has been invoking conflicting emotions within the state governments, and the majority of the parties, including All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), have campaigned for their freedom over the years. With the moment of their release being described as a "Magizhchi" (a state of joy) by Nalini's lawyer, The Logical Indian looks back at a timeline of the events from the assassination to the convicts walking free.

Assassination And Arrests

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, by a woman suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group, identified as Dhanu. Gandhi was attending an election rally at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu (TN) when the members of the liberation tigers plotted the suicide bomb attack. The case was handed over on May 24, 1991, to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Within a month, CBI arrested AG Perarivalan, who was 19 years old at the time and booked him under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). The role of LTTE in the assassination was confirmed by the SIT in 1992, and the arrests that followed up were charged under the TADA. The chargesheet named around 41 accused, including 12 dead. 26 among them, including Nalini, Sriharan, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas, AG Perarivalan, and RP Ravichandran in 1998, were sentenced to death by the TADA court in Poonamallee, Chennai. Apart from Nalini, all convicts were found to be natives of Sri Lanka.

Nalini, the wife of Murugan, was pregnant at the time of arrest and delivered a girl child in prison. Nalini and Murugan's daughter continued to be raised in prison for the next five years and was later taken up by a family of another prisoner to Coimbatore. Both parents have not met their daughter since she left prison but continued to remain in touch through letters.

During the coming years, many appealed for their release and sentence reduction, but the top court dismissed it and upheld the death sentence. A clemency filed by Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, and Perarivalan to the TN Governor was also rejected. Furthermore, the court gave life sentences to three others and acquitted 19 accused in the case.

In the year 2000, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, under the leadership of M Karunanidhi, recommended the governor to reduce Nalini's death sentence. Following the government intervention and an appeal by Congress President and Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi, Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Nalini was also met by Rajiv Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Vellore jail.

The convicts continued to appeal to the president of India for mercy at the time. Perarivalan filed a mercy petition on August 12, 2011, before then-President Pratibha Patil under Article 72 of the Constitution but it was rejected. However, the same year, the Madras High Court stayed the execution of three death convicts who were to be hanged, and the then TN chief minister J Jayalalitha passed a resolution seeking to commute their death sentences. According to an article by the New Indian Express, by May 1, 2012, the High Court transferred the case to the Supreme Court.

Fight For Release Continued

Several writ petitions later, on February 18, 2014, the apex court reduced Perarivalan's death sentence to life imprisonment along with that of Santhan and Murugan. The reduced sentence was awarded because of the long delay in deciding their mercy pleas by the Centre. Following this, the next year, Perarivalan filed a petition under Article 161 of the Constitution for the remission of his sentence.

In 2018, the Tami Nadu Cabinet extended its support and recommended the release of all the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Continued efforts resulted in Nalini's parole in 2019 for the first time since their arrest in 1991. Yet another parole was granted to her in 2021 at the request of her ailing mother, along with parole to Ravichandran for 15 days based on a petition filed by his mother.

All along the while, Perarivalan's release was gaining momentum. The TN cabinet passed a resolution recommending his release on September 9, 2018. By 2021, the Tamil governor forwarded the petition filed by Perarivalan, along with the recommendations passed by the Tamil Nadu cabinet, to the president. The Supreme Court, on March 9, 2022, issued the release of Perarivalan on bail after more than three decades in jail. A couple of months later, on May 18, 2022, the top court ordered Perarivalan's release by invoking its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.

Citing the release of their fellow convict, Nalini Sriharan and Ravichandran moved to the Supreme Court seeking premature release on August 12, 2022. As per Article 142, the Supreme Court can exercise a set of special powers to ensure "complete justice" in a case. With the observation that the convicts had put efforts into becoming responsible citizens by educating themselves and getting actively involved in social services, their lawyers advocated that they were on the right path after 31 years in prison.

Taking their plea ahead, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre and TN government about their premature release on September 26, 2022. By November 11, 2022, the Supreme Court directed the premature release of the six remaining convicts in the case. Since the order was passed, the judgement has received mixed reactions from political bodies, people, and survivors of the suicide bomb blast of 1991.

Also Read: Supreme Court 'Frees' Perarivalan After 31 Years In Rajiv Gandhi's Assassination Case