The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing on the plea of Nalini Sriharan, who is serving life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking her premature release.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna could not take up the matter on Monday due to paucity of time.
The Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to respond to a plea filed by Nalini Sriharan for premature release from her life term.
The bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice B V Nagarathana had issued notices to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government seeking their replies on the plea. The Apex Court has also issued notices on the plea filed by RP Ravichandran, who is also a convict in the case.
Nalini has challenged the June 17 order of the Madras High Court which had rejected her plea for early release.
Nalini had cited before the Apex court the judgement ordering the release of co-convict AG Perarivalan.
The High Court of Madras had rejected the petitions of both Sriharan and Ravichandran, who were convicted in the assassination of the former prime minister.
The High Court had said High Courts do not have any power to do so under Article 226 unlike the Supreme Court which enjoys the special power under Article 142.
The Top Court under Article 142 had invoked its extraordinary power and ordered the release of Perarivalan, who had served over 30 years in jail, and said the Tamil Nadu governor ought not to have sent the “binding” advice made by the state cabinet for his release to the President.
The Apex Court in the case has said that the advice of the state cabinet is binding on the Governor in matters pertaining to the remission of sentences under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Under Article 142, the Top Court may issue any verdict or order necessary to provide “complete justice”.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated when he arrived to speak at an election rally on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a LTTE suicide bomber named Dhanu.
The Top Court in its May 1999 order had upheld the death sentence of four convicts Perarivalan, Murugan, Santhan and Nalini.
In 2014, the Court commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment along with those of Santhan and Murugan on grounds of delay in deciding their mercy petitions.
However, in Nalini’s case, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2001 itself as she had a daughter who had to be raised.