The apex court said it wanted to know about the further investigation which was carried out on this issue after one of the convicts in the assassination case claimed that this aspect was not being probed properly.
"What is the result of the investigation under section 173 on this? We want only this. What is the result of the re- investigation or the further investigation on this? Kindly address us on this," a bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha said.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by suicide bomber, Dhanu, at an election rally. 14 others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed. This was perhaps the first case of suicide bombing which had claimed the life of a high-profile global leader.
The issue cropped up before the apex court after advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan, appearing for convict A G Perarivalan, told the bench that several aspects, including the conspiracy angle behind the making of bomb, has not been probed properly.
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Shankarnarayanan told the court that Perarivalan was held guilty of supplying the batteries for the belt-bomb worn by suicide bomber Dhanu that had killed Rajiv Gandhi.
He referred to the directions passed by the Jain Commission of Inquiry that had probed the conspiracy aspect of the assassination, as also the status report of the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) which was set up to further investigate the leads thrown up by the probe panel.
During the hearing when Perarivalan's counsel raked up various other aspects, the bench said it would only go into the issue of conspiracy behind making of the belt bomb.
"Yours (Perarivalan) is a closed chapter. The only way that chapter can be re-opened, if at all, lies in the aspect of conspiracy (behind making of the bomb). We want the Solicitor General or the Additional Solicitor General to address on this issue," the bench said.
Meanwhile, the counsel representing the CBI asked the bench if they could submit a report on this in a sealed cover.
Shankarnarayanan argued that the government had set up Jain Commission in August 1991 to examine the conspiracy angle behind the assassination and the commission, in its report, had said that there were several aspects which needed further detailed investigation.
He said MDMA was set up under the CBI in 1998 and in the same year, the government had tabled its action taken report in Parliament on the Jain panel report.
The apex court was hearing a plea by Perarivalan who has alleged that neither the CBI's special investigation team, nor the MDMA headed by it, had proceeded with the probe in a proper perspective to bring the accused to book, as several top people were involved in it.
It had also directed the agency to indicate the legal hurdles, if any, and the steps taken to overcome them.
Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh had told the court that the investigation was going on and it would take some time as some accused were absconding.
The apex court had also sought the response of the Centre and the CBI on the plea which has alleged that the CBI did not probe the conspiracy behind the killing of Rajiv Gandhi despite an order from a TADA court in Chennai.
Perarivalan had earlier sought case dairies pertaining to the CBI and the MDMA, which had probed the matter.
He had also referred to the inquiry report of the Justice Jain Commission that had probed the conspiracy aspect of the assassination and which had formed the basis for the TADA court's order for a further probe to identify the role of individuals to uncover the larger conspiracy in the murder.