32 years of sentence and good conduct; SC grants bail to Perarivalan, accused in Rajiv Gandhi murder case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has granted bail to Perarivalan, the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. He was granted bail taking into account his 32 years' of imprisonment and good conduct in prison. He had earlier been granted bail eight times.

Perarivalan was arrested in June 1991. The court awarded him death sentence. He was first released on parole on August 24, 2017 after 26 years in prison. He was later released on parole for his father's illness, his niece's marriage and for treatment.

Perarivalan was accused of buying two batteries used to trigger the bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi. The Supreme Court had in 2014 commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. The other accused in the case are S Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Pius and Ravichandran.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had written to the President demanding the release of seven accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Tamil Nadu government demanded the release of all the seven accused in the case who have been lodged in jail for three decades.