Rajiv assassination: SC refers case to larger bench

New Delhi, April 25: After two months of waiting, the Centre and the victims' families in the

assassination case can heave a sigh of relief for the time being. In the verdict by the SC today, the apex referred the case to a larger constitutional bench, directing the accused to be remanded in jail.

The decision was pronounced by a bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam. Incidentally, today is the Chief Justice's last working day as he retires on April 27. The Supreme Court had earlier commuted the death sentence for three of them to life imprisonment due to a delay in deciding their mercy petitions for 11 years.

Following this, J Jayalalitha- the chief minister of Tamil Nadu directed the state government to release all the convicts in the case, inviting criticism for herself from all the quarters of the political circuit.

The three whose sentences were commuted were: V Sriharan alias Murugan, AG Perarivalan and T Suthendraraja alias Santhan. The other four were serving life sentences. The rest four were already serving life imprisonment.

OneIndia News