THE SUPREME court will hear a parole plea filed by A G Perarivalan (47), serving life sentence in the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The court will hear the plea after three weeks as it took note of the letter for adjournment by the lawyers of Perarivalan.
On November 23 last year, the top court extended the parole of Perarivalan by a week to undergo medical check-up and directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide police escort to him during hospital visits.
On November 20, 2020, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the apex court that the Tamil Nadu governor has to take a call on grant of remission to Perarivalan.
The CBI stated that Perarivalan was not the subject matter of further investigation carried out by the CBI-led Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA).
At present, the supreme court is hearing the plea of Perarivalan seeking suspension of his life sentence in the case till the MDMA probe is completed.
The MDMA was set up in 1998 on the recommendations of the Justice M C Jain Commission of Inquiry to probe into larger conspiracy around the Gandhi’s assassination.
It also recommended tracking of absconding suspects and the role of Sri Lankan and Indian nationals in the case.
Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally.
Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed.
In its May 1999 order, the supreme court upheld the death sentence of four convicts -- Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham and Nalini.
In April 2000, the Tamil Nadu governor commuted the death sentence of Nalini on the basis of the state government's recommendation and an appeal by former Congress president and Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi.
On February 18, 2014, the top court had commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment, along with that of two other prisoners -- Santhan and Murugan -- on the grounds of an 11-year delay in deciding their mercy pleas by the Centre.
On March 14, 2018, the top court upheld the May 11, 1999 verdict, holding Perarivalan guilty in the case.
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Jasvinder Sanghera (Photo by Jon Bond - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Lord Kamlesh Patel
Lord Karan Bilimoria
Poppy Jaman
