“Remission of a prison sentence has been our practice,” said Justice (retired) K.T Thomas while speaking about his decision to write to Sonia Gandhi seeking ‘magnanimity’ on her part in the case of Rajiv Gandhi murder accused.
Even in the Mahatma Gandhi murder case, except the main accused who were hanged, other conspirators who were sentenced to life imprisonment were set free after 14 years in jail by granting remission for the remaining period, he pointed out.
“It does not suit a civilised nation. In a sentence, retribution element alone cannot be the sole criterion,” he said and added that the element of reformation of the accused was of paramount importance.
Justice Thomas, who headed the three-member Bench that confirmed the conviction of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, had last month written a letter to Sonia Gandhi to appeal to the President of India conveying her willingness to grant remission to those who had spent more than 27 years in prison. Of the seven convicts, three were sentenced to life imprisonment and the rest to death by hanging. Later, the four death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
He pointed to certain holes in the case and expressed the suspicion of possible involvement of certain high profile Indians, as was articulated by the presence of ₹40 lakh with the convicts.
“However, this angle was not investigated by the CBI,” he said.
The T.N government had decided in favour of a remission for these convicts, but the Supreme Court struck it down pointing out that a State government alone could not take a decision on the matter since it was a TADA case investigated by the CBI.
Presently, a submission seeking remission is lying with the Central government.
