The CBI has informed the higher court that it had nothing to do with the release of AG Perarivalan.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today granted the convicted of the murder of Rajiv Gandhi AG Perarivalan a week of probation for a medical examination. He has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to provide him with police protection during his visits to the hospital.
With this, the high court has extended the probation granted by the Madras High Court to Mr. Perarivalan by one week until November 23.
The Supreme Court order followed the Central Bureau of Investigation’s claim that it had nothing to do with the convict’s release, as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit, had to take a call.
The Tamil Nadu government’s recommendation to release the seven convicts in the 1991 murder case, including Mr. Perarivalan, is pending with Governor Purohit.
In January, the Supreme Court will decide on the petition for Mr. Perarivalan’s release and may even ask the governor to decide on the recommendation of the state government.
Earlier this month, the main Tamil opposition parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Pattali Makkal Kacchi had urged Purohit to make a swift decision on the release of the seven convicted for the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. The statement followed the Supreme Court expressing its dissatisfaction with the processing of Mr. Perarivalan’s statement to Mr. Purohit for more than two years.
The governor has delayed a decision since September 9, 2018, when the state cabinet resolution recommended the release of the seven convicts.
Perarivalan, 46, has requested the suspension of his life sentence in the case pending the completion of the CBI-led Multidisciplinary Monitoring Agency investigation.
The seven convicts, behind bars for the past 29 years, were originally sentenced to death for their role in the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur by an LTTE suicide bomber.
.
