TN Guv to decide on pardon to Rajiv Gandhi assassin soon, SC told

New Delhi, Jan 21 : In a major development, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that the Tamil Nadu Governor will decide, in three-four days, on the state government’s recommendation to release A.G. Perarivalan, one of the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The development is significant as the state is going to polls in this year.
Mehta, representing the Governor, submitted before a bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao that a decision will be taken as per the Constitution, on the remission of the sentence by exercising discretionary power under Article 161 within the next 3-4 days.
The top court had earlier expressed unhappiness that the recommendation made by the state government for remission of sentence of convicts has been pending before the Governor for over two years. The top court in 2014 had commuted Perarivalan’s sentence to life imprisonment citing long pendency of his mercy petition.
Following Mehta’s submission, the top court scheduled the petition filed by Perarivalan for consideration after four weeks. He had moved the top court seeking release from prison based on the recommendation made by the state government in 2018.
The top court told Mehta: “So we will not be needed to decide this plea? It is good that the Governor is deciding…”