DMK's Stalin meets TN Guv seeking release of 7 convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo MK Stalin met Tamil Nadu Governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Tuesday to discuss the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. MK Stalin's visit to the Raj Bhavan comes days after the CBI  told the Supreme Court that the Tamil Nadu Governor has to take a call on the grant of remission to Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan, who is serving a life sentence in the case. MK Stalin was accompanied by party general secretary Durai Murugan and treasurer TR Baalu in his visit to the Governor's residence. 

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It is pertinent to point out that the DMK, on many occasions in the past, has been vocal in seeking the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case despite being alliance partners with the Congress in the state. Congress also announced that it would continue its alliance with the DMK for the 2021 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and will fight the elections with MK Stalin as the CM face. 

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A G Perarivalan, Nalini, her husband Murugan, T. Suthendraraja, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P Ravichandran are the seven convicts in the assassination case who have languished in the prisons for over 30 years now. TNCC chief KS Alagari had expressed displeasure against DMK's resolution to seek the release of the convicts and said that it was inappropriate for political parties to do so. DMK, on the other hand, has sought the release of the convicts right before elections in the state - a strategy seemingly pursued by the Dravidian party to woo Tamil voters. 

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TN Guv to decide on remission to Perarivalan: CBI to SC

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court that the Tamil Nadu Governor has to take a call on the grant of remission to Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan, who is serving a life sentence in the case. In its affidavit filed on November 20, the CBI said that Perarivalan is not the subject matter of further investigation carried out by the CBI-led Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) which is conducting a probe on the “larger conspiracy” aspect as per the mandate of Jain Commission report.

The top court is hearing a plea of 46-year-old Perarivalan seeking suspension of his life sentence in the case till the MDMA probe is completed. On November 3, the top court had expressed unhappiness over the pendency of a plea by a convict seeking a pardon in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for over two years with the Tamil Nadu Governor. The CBI, in its 24-page affidavit, said, “It is for the His Excellency Governor of Tamil Nadu to take a call on the issue whether remission is to be granted or not and in so far as relief is concerned in the present matter CBI has no role”.

"Present petitioner is not the subject matter of the further investigation carried out by MDMA. The further investigation conducted by MDMA is only limited to the mandate provided to it by the Jain Commission Report…” it said, adding that a progress report by MDMA on further investigation and its status is submitted to the designated court in Chennai.

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