Days after the Union home ministry rejected the mercy petition of 2001 Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru, President Pratibha Patil has rejected the clemency petition of three convicts involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The President has rejected the petition of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, all linked to the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2000.
In 2000, the apex court had confirmed death sentences to the three and Nalini, an Indian woman who had assisted them in the assassination. Later, Nalini’s sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.
The President rejected the mercy petition last week, Rashtrapati Bhavan officials confirmed.
Investigators had charged the four accused with criminal conspiracy and execution of the suicide attack plot. The home ministry had earlier rejected the mercy petition on June 21, 2005, but it was called back for review on February 23, 2011, and re-submitted to the President on March 8.
The home ministry has also rejected the mercy petition of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case of 2001and the file has been sent to the President with detailed opinion of the Supreme Court the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Although the clemency petition of Afzal Guru is now with the President, the Constitution does not provide a time-frame for the President to take the decision.
