INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed unhappiness over the pendency of a plea by a convict seeking pardon in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination case for over two years with the Tamil Nadu Governor.The top court asked the counsel for petitioner A G Perarivalan, who is
serving life sentence, whether the court can exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution to request the Governor to
decide his plea of pardon filed under Article 161
said, ?We don't want to exercise our jurisdiction at this stage but we are not happy that recommendation made by the government is pending
for two years?.The bench was hearing a plea of 46-year-old A G Perarivalan who has sought suspension of his life sentence in the case till
the CBI-led Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) probe is completed.During the hearing, the bench told senior advocate Gopal
Shankarnarayanan, representing Perarivalan, that ?the Governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers
can request the Governor to take decision and what are the laws on the issue.The top court then asked advocate Balaji Srinivasan, appearing
for Tamil Nadu, as to why the state government cannot request the Governor to pass order without any specific order from this
court?Srinavasan said that Governor had sought report of the MDMA.The bench then told ASG K M Nataraj, appearing for Centre, as to whether
any request has been made by the state to send the report of MDMA.He replied that the larger conspiracy probe is going on and the
theory is to find out if any other person, besides those convicted in the matter, are involved in this.?It is not with respect to those who
are convicted and are in jail
You look at it,? the bench told Nataraj, adding that the larger conspiracy probe is pending for almost 20 years.It said that even after
almost two decades of probe in the larger conspiracy aspect, the Centre is saying that it is in the process of getting response for Letter
(Nataraj) look at it and tell us,? the bench said, while posting the matter for further hearing on November 23.The bench allowed the
petitioner and the Union of India to file additional documents, if any in the matter.The state government had earlier told the top court
that that the Cabinet has already passed a resolution on September 9, 2018 and recommended to the Governor for the premature release of all
seven convicts in the case.On January 21, the apex court had asked the state government to inform whether a decision has been taken by it on
which had probed the conspiracy aspect of Gandhi's assassination.Perarivalan's counsel had earlier said his role was only limited to
procuring nine-volt batteries, which were allegedly used in the improvised explosive device (IED) that had killed Gandhi.On March 14 last
year, the apex court had asked the MDMA to file a status report with regard to a LRs sent to Sri Lanka for examining one of the accused,
1999, verdict upholding his conviction.It had said the material brought on record before it does not inspire confidence to interfere with
the verdict in which Perarivalan and three others were initially awarded death sentence, which was later commuted to life term.The CBI had
earlier submitted that Perarivalan had even visited Jaffna in Sri Lanka in the first week of June 1990, besides attending a public meeting
submitted that he was just a 19-year-old when the incident took place and had no knowledge of what he was doing and for what purpose the
batteries were purchased.Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber,
identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally.Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed
Gandhi's assassination was perhaps the first case of suicide bombing which had claimed the life of a high-profile leader.In its May 1999
order, the top court had upheld the death sentence of four convicts -- Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham and Nalini -- in the assassination
and an appeal by former Congress president and Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi.On February 18, 2014, the top court had commuted the death
sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment, along with that of two other prisoners -- Santhan and Murugan -- on the grounds of 11-year
delay in deciding their mercy pleas by the Centre.
