Congress "disagrees" with Sonia Gandhi on Rajiv Gandhi killers' release
Congress “disagreed” with former president Sonia Gandhi whose appeal helped in the commutation of death sentence of convict Nalini Sriharan over the killing of Rajiv Gandhi
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New Delhi, Nov 12: The Congress termed the decision of the Supreme Court to free the remaining six killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as "totally unacceptable and completely erroneous”. It also “disagreed” with former president Sonia Gandhi whose appeal helped in the commutation of death sentence of convict Nalini Sriharan. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also met Nalini in the prison.
Congress MP and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Singhvi said the former PM’s assassination is an "institutional matter” and clarified that Congress never agreed with the Gandhi family’s view because “the sovereignty, integrity and identity of the nation is involved in a PM’s assassination."
"Sonia Gandhi, above all, is entitled to her personal views. But with greatest respect, party doesn't agree and has made our view clear. In this case, the Congress' views are the same as that of the central government. The party does not agree with Sonia Gandhi's view, has never agreed with that view, and has made this view clear for years," Singhvi said.
On the other hand, however, Congress’s ally and coalition partner in Tamil Nadu, DMK, welcomed the SC decision, with party chief M K Stalin insisting DMK has always favoured their release. On the stance taken by DMK, Singhvi said, "If we (the Congress party) disagree with Sonia Gandhi on this issue, do you think we will agree with our ally? Congress’ stand and Tamil Nadu’s stand have always been different on the issue. Our stand has been clear and consistent on this matter for years."
Nalini Sriharan approached the Supreme Court when in May, it used special powers to free one of the convicts, AG Perarivalan. All seven convicts in the case have spent more than 30 years in prison.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, by a woman suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group. Seven convicts were sentenced to death for their role in the killing.
In 2000, Nalini Sriharan's sentence was reduced to a life term on the intervention of Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's wife and former Congress president. The sentence of six more convicts was also commuted in 2014. The same year, then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha initiated moves to free them.
Bharati Web
Mes, Pune
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