News Tamil Nadu

DMK And Its Allies Welcome Release Of Assassins of Rajiv Gandhi And 15 Other Tamils

November 12, 2022
The Commune

The Supreme Court released the remaining six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on Friday, extending the benefit of its order that freed their co-convict A G Perarivalan saying, “the appellants are directed to be set at liberty if not required in any other matter”.

Hearing the convict’s petitions, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna noted that the applicants’ death sentences had previously been commuted to life sentences due to delays. “We order that all appellants’ sentences be deemed served.” “The applicants are thus ordered to be released unless otherwise required,” the bench said.

On May 18, the Supreme Court issued an order for Perarivalan’s release under Article 142 of the Constitution. On Friday, the bench stated that the same order would apply to the six other defendants.

The bench noted that the six had spent over three decades in prison in the case and said that their behavior had been satisfactory during this time, during which they had also pursued studies. The court considered Nalini’s gender when making its decision.

According to the investigation agencies, Nalini took Dhanu, the suicide bomber, to a shop to stitch the salwar kameez that was used to conceal the IED for the assassination. The attack also claimed the lives of fifteen other people, including nine police officers, and injured 43 others.

However, some Dravidian Stockists, VCK cadres, and Naam Tamilar Katchi cadres celebrated the release of the Rajiv Gandhi assassins, giving the impression that they were innocent.

In a video, DMK spokesperson Rajiv Gandhi stated, “Even before being elected, the DMK promised to take all necessary steps to free the Rajiv Gandhi case convicts. Today is the day we fulfilled our promise. The DMK government vigorously supported and argued in favor of Perarivalan in the Supreme Court, laying the groundwork for the release of six other convicts today. The DMK government’s No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) is the only reason that has made the release of the convicts possible.”

VCK chief Thirumavalavan said that he welcomes the Supreme Court Judgement despite the delay and that it is a victory to the protest of the entire Tamil community.

Tamimun Ansari, former MLA and general secretary of Manithaneya Jananaayaga Katchi, expressed his delight at the Supreme Court’s decision to release the six Rajiv Gandhi case convicts.

K. Balakrishnan, State Secretary of the Marxist Communist Party, said, “We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to release six people who had been imprisoned for a long time. The Supreme Court has given a proper lesson to the functioning of the Governor and the Central Government by affirming the rights of the state government.”

Mutharasan, CPI State Secretary: The governor and the central government failed to take appropriate action on the files pertaining to the release of seven Rajiv Gandhi case convicts and failed to release them on time. We applaud the Supreme Court’s acquittal of six people in the ensuing legal battle.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko: Both the previous and current governors were delaying action on the files concerning the release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi case. It is happy that the Supreme Court has put an end to this and ordered the release of six convicts.

Fringe groups in Tamil Nadu, like Naam Tamilar, have welcomed the judgement and were burning crackers while celebrating the Rajiv Gandhi assassin’s release. It should be noted that the NTK party’s co-ordinator Seeman claimed during a public meeting that they were responsible for the murder of Rajiv Gandhi.

However, Congress, a DMK ally, has condemned the release of the Rajiv assassins, saying that the murderers should not be celebrated. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President KS Alagiri expressed sadness at a society that allows murderers to roam freely. “Fortunately, the court did not rule that they were innocent,” he said. Alagiri went on to say that the families of those who died alongside Rajiv Gandhi are heartbroken. Tamil Maanila Congress chief GK Vasan said the Supreme Court order surprised the public and shocked the families of those who got killed in the blast.

In a press release, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai stated that although the party accepts the Supreme Court decision, the murderers should not be celebrated. “But it must be clarified that the released convicts are not acquitted of their crimes,” he said in a statement.

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