Top headlines- SC orders release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination accused AG Perarivalan

The apex court further held that the decision of the Governor to refer the mercy plea of he to the president of India has no constitutional backing. In March of this year, he was released on bail by the Supreme Court.

 Here is a look at the chronology of events in the case:

  May 21, 1991: Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in  Tamil Nadu by a suicide bomber belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil eel am (LTTE). Gandhi was scheduled to address a rally there. Sixteen people, including Gandhi, were killed in the blast, while around 45 persons were critically injured.

 June 1991: He was then 19-years-old and arrested for his involvement in the case.

 August 1991:He was accused of buying two nine-volt batteries for LTTE, who masterminded the assassination. The batteries were used in the bomb that killed Gandhi. The CBI registered a case against him and several others under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TA-DA).

 January 1998: A trial court ordered the death penalty for him and 25 others.

 2011: An execution date was fixed. He and a few others filed a writ petition, seeking a stay on the execution. Ram Jethmalani appeared for them. A stay was granted.

 February 2014: Supreme Court commuted his death penalty to life imprisonment.

 December 2015: He submitted a mercy petition to the Tamil Nadu Governor, seeking release under Article 161 of the Constitution. In the absence of any action, his mother moved a plea on his behalf in the Supreme Court.

 March 2016: The Tamil Nadu government sent a proposal to the union government seeking remission of the life sentences of the seven convicts including him in the case. Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Sanjay Duct, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast case, was released. He filed an RTI application to Pune’s jail administration asking on what grounds Sanjay Duct was prematurely released. He received no response.

 In August 2017:He was released on parole for the first time to meet his ailing father. He was 45-years-old at the time.

 November 2017: Former CBI officer V Thiagarajan, who interrogated him, told the Supreme Court it was omitted in the confession that Perarivalan had no idea of the purpose for which the two batteries he bought would be used.

 April 2018: The Union government rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s 2016-remission proposal.

 September 2018: Political parties in Tamil Nadu unanimously adopted a resolution for releasing all seven convicts.

 November 2020: The Madras High Court extended the 30-day parole granted to him by two weeks from November 9.

 January 2021: The Supreme Court granted a week for the Tamil Nadu Governor to decide on the state government’s 2018 recommendation to release the seven convicts.

 February 2021: The Union government told the Supreme Court that the TN Governor had on January 25 communicated to the Center that the President is the appropriate competent authority to deal with the remission of the sentence.

 May 2021: DMK forms the government in Tamil Nadu and chief minister MK Stalin writes to the President for their early release. Stalin grants a month’s parole for him on medical grounds, which was later extended.

 December 2021: Supreme Court said it is not keen on granting any further adjournments on its plea.

  March 2022: Supreme court grants bail to him.

   May 18, 2022: SC orders the release of him.