Congress should not seek legal recourse against SC order

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of the remaining six convicts, including Nalini and her husband Murugan, in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case using special powers. The apex court had earlier released another convict Perarivalan using the same powers. It was generally expected that the other accused would be released later. The court had initially sentenced the accused to death. Later, the Supreme Court granted them a life sentence. No one can blame the fact that the same court finally issued the order to release them.

The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, shocked not only India but the entire world. Just like in many other cases, none of the real conspirators behind this case was put behind the bars. Velupillai Prabhakaran was the main leader who plotted the assassination. Years later, Prabhakaran was killed in Sri Lanka's civil war. He thus got punished for assassinating Rajiv Gandhi, though not by a court. The LTTE assassinated Rajiv Gandhi for sending a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka and for forcing to sign the Sri Lanka Accord. Sivarasan and six others, who came to India and carried out the assassination, later committed suicide in hiding. The accused who assisted in the murder and were directly or indirectly a part of it were later brought to justice through expert investigation. The accused have been in jail for the past thirty years. Indian politics changed over the years. People from various levels had raised demands for the release of the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Tamil Nadu was the frontrunner among them. The stance of Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi pardoning the accused was also generally welcomed. The Tamil Nadu Cabinet recommended the release of the accused in September 2018,
However, the Governor did not act for two-and-a-half years and then left it to the President.

The convicts have been released under Section 142 of the Supreme Court Constitution. The crime of which the defendants were a part is enormous. They have received the punishment for it. The idea that convicts should remain in jail till death is regressive. Therefore, the Congress party should withdraw from the decision to seek legal recourse against the verdict. The growth of any party is stunted when it does not understand the mindset of the majority of people. Congress should not go to that state.