Centre, TN govt oppose Rajiv case convict Nalini''s plea

The Centre on Thursday reaffirmed in the Madras High Court its stand that the Rajiv Gandhi

assassination case convicts cannot be set free without its consent and said the Tamil Nadu cabinet recommendation for

their premature release would have 'zero' effect. The oral submission was made by Additional Solicitor

General (ASG) G Rajagopalan before a bench of justices R Subbiah and R Pongiappan during the hearing of a petition by

Nalini, one of the seven life convicts, seeking to declare her detention as illegal.

Nalini has moved the court contending that since the Tamil Nadu Governor had failed to order her release based on

the September 9, 2018 recommendation of the state cabinet, she was in illegal detention.

The bench, which heard arguments from all parties, reserved its orders on her petition.

Opposing the plea of Nalini, the ASG cited a Supreme Court order and said unless there was an order in the name of

the Governor, it was not an illegal detention. He said the resolution passed by the state Council of

Ministers was not an order (for release). Referring to an earlier litigation by Nalini in the

Supreme Court, he said the then question raised was whether the state government has the power to release the convicts

without the consent or consultation of the Central government under CrpC provisions.

The apex court had held that the Centre's consent or concurrence was necessary because the case was investigated by

the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Rajagopalan said. Already the central government had refused to release

these convicts. Besides, as per the Supreme Court orders, life sentence means imprisonment till death, he said.

Intervening, the bench asked the ASG then what will be the effect of the state cabinet's decision recommending

premature release of the seven convicts (under Article 161 of the Constitution), which is pending before the Governor.

To this, the the Centre's counsel said the effect of the resolution passed by the cabinet was Zero, he added.

In its counter affidavit filed earlier this month, the Centre had said the Governor of Tamil Nadu has the discretion

under powers conferred by the Constitution, to decide on the pending mercy petition of Perarivalan, another life convict in

the case. State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan in his arguments on

Thursday submitted that some of the offences committed by the accused come under the Central Act and therefore, for the

purpose of commutation or remission, the state government has to get consent from the central government.

The Cabinet passed a resolution requesting the Governor to release all the seven convicts. It can only recommend or

request the Governor to consider their release and cannot demand or ask him to set them free, he said adding it was for

the Governor to decide. Unless an order was passed, there was no question of

illegal detention of Nalini, he added. Radhakrishnan, counsel for Nalini, contended that the

resolution passed by the Council of Ministers was binding on the governor.

Since the cabinet advised the Governor on September 9, 2018 to release the petitioner, the order to the effect should

have been issued the very next day itself by the government, he maintained.

As per the ruling of the Supreme Court in Maru Rams case, the Governors signature was not necessary for the

purpose of releasing the petitioner, he claimed. All the seven were convicted by a special TADA court for

their role in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991 by an LTTE suicide bomber during an

election rally at nearby Sriperumbudur. They were sentenced to death, but later it was commuted

to life imprisonment. Besides Nalini, the other life convicts are her husband

Murugan, A G Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Pyas.