29-Mar-2024  Srinagar booked.net

IndiaJudiciary

Supreme Court Frees All Convicts In Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case

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The Supreme Court on Friday released all the remaining convicts serving life imprisonment in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.  

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber at an election meeting in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991. The woman assassin, Dhanu, triggered a belt bomb and killed Gandhi and 16 others.
 
In 1991, 11 June, CBI arrested seven persons including 19-year-old A G Perarivalan and was booked under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) like others accused in the case.
 
However,  he was released in May this year, 24 years after he was sentenced to death in the case and two months after he was granted bail by the apex court by invoking extraordinary power under Article 142. 
 
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh strongly criticised the apex court's decision, and said that the grand old party finds it wholly untenable. 
 
"The Supreme Court's decision to free the remaining killers of Rajiv Gandhi is unacceptable and completely erroneous. It is most unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not acted in consonance with the spirit of India on this issue," he said