SC to hear Centre’s plea

SENTENCE\\ The Supreme Court on February 15, 2014, commuted the death sentences of the three assassins of Rajiv Gandhi to life imprisonment, holding that the 11-year delay in deciding their mercy petition had a dehumanising effect on them. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said, “The delay was not only inordinate but also unreasonable and unexplained.” The court said that life imprisonment would mean life in jail till end.

On February 24, 2014, the Supreme Court decided to hear the Centre’s plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s announcement to release the assassins of the former PM. A top court bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam agreed to hear the plea after Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra told the court the Tamil Nadu government had no jurisdiction to release the conspirators.

The week before, on a petition by the Centre, the Supreme Court stayed the release of three of seven convicts—Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan—whose death sentence was commuted because of an exceptional delay in a decision on their mercy plea.