Ram Jethmalani, Vaiko celebrate as Rajiv Gandhi's killers skip death

Chennai, Feb 18: The

on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of three assassins of former prime minister

to life imprisonment citing the 11-year delay on the part of the Centre in deciding their mercy plea.

Knowing the fact that the three convicts - V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and AG Perarivlan alias Arivu - killed Rajiv Gandhi, our politicians still do not want them to be given death sentence!

Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani appeared for Murugan while Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhary represented Santhan and Perarivalan. Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra represented the Union government.

Ram Jethmalani and Vaiko celebrated this decision with sweets.

Expressing happiness at the Supreme Court's decision to commute the death sentence, DMK president M. Karunanidhi urged the central and state governments to release them from jail.

The Petitioners were convicted in 1998 for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. Their mercy petition was sent to the President of India in 2000 and was rejected after 11 years. The Madras High Court had, however, stayed their hanging in 2011.

OneIndia News