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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Center to take an early decision on the early release of the assassin of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. AG Perarivalan, convicted of murder and serving a life sentence, has applied for release from jail in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has now given the date of January for the next hearing in the matter. Perarivalan’s counsel told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the governor’s decision on the Tamil Nadu state government’s recommendation to release him from jail should be kept on record.
Perarivalan had filed a mercy petition under Article 162 of the Constitution before the Governor of Tamil Nadu in December 2015. After a delay of five years, in January this year, the Governor had decided to refer the matter to the President. Since then, the hearing of this case has been postponed twice and for the first time on Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard it.
A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao told the Centre, “The matter is pending for a long time. Make a decision We will hear it in January next year.
The Supreme Court in September 2018 adjourned AG Perarivalan’s plea seeking release from jail on the basis of the recommendation made by the state government for January.
The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Perarivalan, who has been serving a life sentence for more than 20 years. The petition expressed anguish over the inaction of the Governor to take a decision on the Tamil Nadu government’s recommendation to grant him clemency in September 2018. During the hearing, the Solicitor General said that the matter should be adjourned for the next week.
