Supreme Court to hear Rajiv killers' remission case on August 1
The court had held that in cases investigated by the CBI, the state can grant remission only with the consent of the Union government.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday posted for hearing on August 1, petitions relating to the grant of remission to the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who are in jail for the last 25 years.
A three-judge bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi, P.C. Pant and A.M. Kanwilkar posted the matter for further hearing on August 1 after brief submissions from Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar and counsel Yogesh Khanna for TN.
In December 2015, a five-judge Bench had held that the state has no power to order suo motu release of seven convicts, viz Murugan, Santhan, Periarivalan (whose death sentence was commuted to life sentence) and that of Nalini, Robert Pius, Jayakumar and Ravichandran, serving life term by granting remission. The court had held that in cases investigated by the CBI, the state can grant remission only with the consent of the Union government.
However, the court had said the validity of the order passed by the TN government on February 19, 2014, to release the convicts by granting them remission will be considered afresh by another bench.