Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: SC allows convict to petition for release

The Supreme Court on Monday gave liberty to one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to petition for release, news agency ANI reported.

According to reports, convict AG Perarivalan will submit a copy of the letter, which he previously wrote to Tamil Nadu Governorseeking an earlier release from the prison.

The Court will hear the matter next after two weeks.

45-year-old AG Perarivala is presently serving a life sentence. He had previously moved the apex court seeking a suspension of his jail term.

On March 14, the top court had dismissed Perarivalan's plea seeking a recall of the May 11, 1999 verdict upholding his conviction in the case.

On January 23, the apex court had asked the Centre to take a decision within three months on a 2016 letter by the Tamil Nadu government seeking its concurrence on releasing the seven convicts.

The letter, written on March 2, 2016, had said the state government has already decided to release the seven convicts, but it is necessary to seek the Centre's concurrence as per an apex court order of 2015.

The Centre, on August 10, had told the apex court that it does not concur with the Tamil Nadu government's proposal to release seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying remission of their sentence will set a "dangerous precedent" and have "international ramifications".

In its May 1999 order, the top court had upheld the death sentence of four convicts -- Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham and Nalini -- in the assassination case.