Legal Correspondent

The Centre on Thursday asserted in the Supreme Court that the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991 was a very serious and heinous crime which could not be forgotten so easily or brushed aside.

A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana reserved its verdict on a writ petition filed by the Centre, challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release the seven convicts in the case.

On Wednesday, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Tamil Nadu, defended the State’s decision taken on February 19 and said the situation had now changed as there was no LTTE presence and no threat to the law and order if the seven accused were released.

Refuting this stand, Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati, citing the 1999 judgment in the case, said Murugan and two others were Sri Lankan nationals, who had carried out this heinous crime. “People may forget what happened in 1991 but we can’t. What will happen to the families of the victims if they are to be released?”

Courtesy: The Hindu