New Delhi, Aug 10 : The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the seven people convicted for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi cannot be released as the “they don’t deserve leniency” for “gruesome” killing.
“The releasing of killers of former PM Rajiv Gandhi will set a very dangerous precedent.
The case has been decided by various forum of judiciary and executive and the prisoners do not deserve to be set free,” said the Centre to the Supreme Court.
“Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was the most heinous and gruesome crime, the brutal Act brought the Indian democratic process to a grinding halt and the convicts do not deserve any leniency,” said the Centre.
The top court recorded the affidavit filed by the Central government and adjourned the matter for a later date.
The Central government stated that the President of India has already rejected a proposal to release the convicts.
The government asserted that the CBI, which investigated the case, has opposed the release of the seven convicts and Tamil Nadu had been informed of the decision on April 18, the centre told the court.
The Centre’s affidavit came in response to the Supreme Court asking the government to explain its stand on Tamil Nadu’s 2016 decision to release the seven convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
In June, President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s request to release the seven prisoners. The seven convicts are V Sriharan alias Murugan, AG Perarivalan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini.
The Tamil Nadu government’s decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, following which the court asked for the Centre’s opinion.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, around seven years after his mother Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her bodyguards in New Delhi.