Chennai, Aug 30 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu assembly Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution asking President Pratibha Patil to review the mercy petitions filed by the three convicts in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
Reiterating her Monday statement, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said while moving the resolution: ‘I as a chief minister or the Tamil Nadu government or the governor cannot review the mercy petition filed by Murugan alias Sriharan, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu.’
Citing the concern of the people of Tamil Nadu and the appeals by various political parties, Jayalalithaa said the resolution was moved on behalf the state government.
She said the government would send the resolution to the governor.
On Monday, Jayalalithaa had said DMK president and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi had adopted double standards on the matter.
On Aug 11, the president rejected the mercy petitions of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan – all linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – and sentenced them to death for their involvement in Gandhi’s 1991 assassination.
Rajiv Gandhi, who was prime minister 1984-89, was killed by a suicide bomber called Dhanu at an election rally in Sriperumbudur near Chennai May 21.
Fourteen other people also lost their lives in the blast.
The three condemned prisoners, who were due to hang Sep 9, Monday moved the high court to commute their sentence to life imprisonment.
The Madras High Court Tuesday stayed for eight weeks the hanging of the three convicts
