Tamil Nadu parties call for release of Rajiv case convicts

February 18, 2014 02:38 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 02:05 am IST - CHENNAI

CHENNAI: 18/02/2014:  Former Chief Minister and DMK President  M. Karunanidhi at Secretariat on Tuesday.  Photo: V. Ganesan.

CHENNAI: 18/02/2014: Former Chief Minister and DMK President M. Karunanidhi at Secretariat on Tuesday. Photo: V. Ganesan.

CHENNAI: Welcoming the Supreme Court order commuting the death sentence of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, political parties in Tamil Nadu demanded their immediate release as they have already spent 23 years in jail.

The DMK conference in Tiruchi on Sunday adopted a resolution for commuting their death sentence, besides pressing for a legislation to dispense with capital punishment in the country. Reacting to the judgement, party president M. Karunanidhi said the State and the Centre should take a cue from the SC order and release the trio immediately. “I will be doubly happy if the State and the Centre implement the suggestion of the Supreme Court and release them immediately.” In the past, he said, his government had released Kaliaperumal, Thiyagu and Nalini, who were also awarded the death sentence.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko, who was present in the court, told The Hindu soon after the verdict: “This is a historic judgment and will go down in golden letters in judicial history.”

Mr. Vaiko celebrated the judgment by presenting a shawl to advocate Ram Jethmalani, who appeared for the three in the Madras High Court. “There is not even an iota of link between the three and the assassination that took place at Sriperumpudur. He appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take into consideration the judgment and order the release of the three convicts, exercising the State government’s powers under Section 432 of the Cr.P.C.

PMK leader S. Ramadoss, Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani and CPI State secretary D. Pandian also called upon the Tamil Nadu government to take a cue from the order and consider the trio’s release.

While CPI(M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan welcomed the judgment,, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan said the judgment had exalted India’s position in the international arena.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.