The
Tamilnadu government today filed a petition before Madras High Court
seeking to commute the death sentence of three convicts in the Rajiv
Gandhi assassination case, even as the Court adjourned further hearing
in the case to 31 January, 2012.
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When
the review petitions, filed by the Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan,
challenging the rejection of their mercy pleas by the President came up
for hearing, Advocate General Navaneethakrishnan filed an additional
affidavit seeking to commute their death sentence.
When the case came up before a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice C Nagappan and Mr Justice P Sathyanarayana, the Advocate General also enclosed a copy of the Tamilnadu Assembly resolution appealing to the President to commute their death sentences. The resolution, moved by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was unanimously adopted in the House on 30 August. Later, the Court adjourned the matter citing pendency of a case before the Supreme Court. The defence counsels told the Court that a petition seeking to shift the review pleas filed by the convicts, to any court outside Tamilnadu was pending before the apex court. Since it was expected to come up for hearing on 11 January, they sought adjournment. Accepting this, the Bench adjourned the case to 31 January next year for further hearing. It may be recalled that the State government had earlier stated that it had no powers to commute the death sentence. After the President had rejected their clemency pleas in August this year, more than 11 years after it was forwarded to the President, the Vellore Prison authorities, where the convicts were lodged, fixed the execution for 9 September. However, the High Court, after extensive arguments from senior counsel Ram Jethmalani and others, had stayed the execution for eight weeks on 30 August. When the case came up again during the last week of October, the court said the stay would continue till the final disposal of the petitions. |