TN 'will argue for release of Rajiv assassination case convicts'

Chennai, June 15 (IANS) The case relating to the release of seven convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case is in the Supreme Court and the state government will try to secure their release, said a Tamil Nadu Minister.

Queried about the rejection by President Ram Nath Kovind of Tamil Nadu's request to release the convicts, state Minister for Law, Courts and Prisons C.Ve. Shanmugam said the state government would place its arguments in the apex court strongly.

While the state government and other political parties want the seven convicts release, the Central government is against it.

Late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had also written in 2014 to the Central government to release the convicts.

Meanwhile, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss has condemned the Central government for not releasing the convicts, saying that the decision is anti-Tamil.

He said the Central government has decided against the release of the convicts after the Supreme Court had ordered in January 2018 to take a decision within three months.

Ramadoss said the Tamil Nadu government should recommend to the state Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution to free the convicts.

DMK leader M.K. Stalin termed the Central government's decision as inhuman.

The seven convicts serving life sentence are: V. Sriharan alias Murugan, A.G. Perarivlan alias Arivu, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Nalini, Robert Pius, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

The seven have been in prison since 1991, the year a woman Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew herself up and killed Gandhi at an election rally near Chennai.