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RAJIV-KILLER-CLEMENCY
Indian state recommends release of 7 killers of former PM Rajiv Gandhi
NEW DELHI, Sept. 10, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) — India’s southern state of Tamil
Nadu has recommended the release of seven convicted killers of the country’s
former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The Tamil Nadu government took the major decision at a Cabinet meeting in
capital Chennai Sunday evening, following which the recommendation has been
sent to the state governor.
D. Jayakumar, a state minister, said the decision was in line with “public
sentiment.”
“The governor, Banwarilal Purohit, will have to accept recommendations of
the Council of Ministers. There is nothing to reject,” the minister told the
media.
According to the Indian Constitution, the governor has power to grant
pardons and to suspend or commute sentences of any convict.
Rajiv Gandhi, the husband of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, was assassinated
in Tamil Nadu by a suicide bomber of erstwhile Tamil Tiger rebels based in
Sri Lanka on May 21, 1991.
The seven convicts — Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham, Nalini Sriharan,
Jayakumar, Robert Payas and Ravichandran — are currently serving life terms
across various jails in Tamil Nadu.
The seven convicts have already spent 27 years in jail.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1216 hrs