Now that the people are calling for the release of those sentenced to Death in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, it is advisable to be aware of what has happened, and the sequence of events as well.
Read the Book
.Rajiv Gandhi Assassination – D. R. Kaarthikenyan, Google Books.
The PM visits a place,meeting scheduled at the last minute, many in the intelligence community are unaware,the place was secluded,those who were scheduled to attend the meeting did not turn up for inexplicable reasons.
The Security cordon was loose.
After the Assassination, the killers were given sufficient time to escape from Chennai.
Then the manhunt began, to the killers’ advantage.
Important leads were not followed up in the assassination case.
Police who surrounded the place in Bangalore– where Sivarasan, the suspected killer was hiding,took in ordinate time in nabbing him, awaiting some one.
They ensured he was not captured alive.
The logistics of the Assassination was so meticulous as not have had direction from the top.
The money trial,Chandraswamy angle was not followed up.
Nor was the Jain Commission‘s observations on the possible conspirators and the indictment of Karunanidhi taken up seriously.
Instead of being incensed at the remarks of Omar Abdullah, one should see it in its logic.
If Congress can have Karunanidhi(Party DMK in the Cabinet) ,who has been named in the Jain Commission for involvement in Rajiv Gandhi murder case,in the UPA Alliance,:despite his declaration that he supported LTTE(which he retracted later);who has refused to to be present to receive IPKF on the ground it has raped Tamil Women in Sri Lanka and killed the Tamils, why is it Congress is crying over Omar Abdulla’s remark?
Omar Abdullah.
Because it suits them to have Karunanidhi on its side to prevent Raja and Kanimozhi spilling the beans in 2 G scam and to make up numbers in the Parliament?
Whatever be the compulsions ,Tamil Nadu Government ,by passing the Resolution, has questioned the discretionary powers of the President,which is not Right- the consequence one can see Omar Abdullah’s statement.
Omar is correct in asking that ‘would the reactions be the same?’
The answer,honestly,is NO.
Bot Omar is not Right though correct.
Srinagar (PTI): Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah today raised a question whether a resolution by J and K assembly seeking mercy for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on the lines of Tamil Nadu House would also generate a “muted” reaction, comments that came under sharp attack from the BJP.
“If J&K assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not,” Omar punched on social networking siteTwitter.
His controversial comments came a day after the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a unanimous resolution urging President Pratibha Patil to reconsider the mercy plea of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who are facing death sentence. “Omar’s remarks are unfortunate.’
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 August 2011, 19:34 GMT] In an extraordinary development in Indian constitutional history, the Tamil Nadu State Assembly on Tuesday unanimously and strongly resolved that the President of India, respecting the sentiments of the people and political parties of Tamil Nadu, should reconsider the clemency appeals of the three Tamils fixed for execution and convert their death sentences into life imprisonment. In the meantime, acting on a legal move by Vaiko and N. Chandrasekaran, The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the executions for 8 weeks giving time for the government to file counter affidavit. The President of India earlier rejected the clemency appeals of Perarivalan of Tamil Nadu and two Eezham Tamils, Murugan and Shanthan condemned to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and their hangings were fixed to September 09.
The Constitution of India’s stand in Presidential clemency is –
‘The articles 72 and 161 of the Indian Constitution add a human touch to the country’s judicial process by conferring powers on the President and the Governors of various states, respectively to grant pardon or show mercy to criminals sentenced to death. These two articles of the Constitution of India endow the President and the Governor with the power to view the mercy applications of convicts with kindness. They can review the applications without having to view it from a legal angle like that of legal experts who base their opinion solely on the basis of available evidence and the testimony of witnesses.
The powers of the President and the Governor are applicable in these cases:
where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial.
the offence is against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the union extends.
Pardon is at the sole discretion of the President and not to be claimed or demanded as a matter of Right and the decision of the President is final.
If the courts were to stay the order of the Supreme Court and the rejection of the mercy petition is to be stayed by the High Court , what is the sanctity of the offices of Supreme Court and the President?
If the Court were to stay the execution, and if some one were to file a petition against this stay, will the courts again take up the matter?
Then there will be no end to the process and it will be a mockery of Law.
Ram Jethmalani argues that the President took eleven years to decide on this and hence the sentence has to be commuted.
If at all any one has to take the blame and be punished, it is the President/s who sat on the petition , which you can not do.
Now the High Court has extended the decision making process delayed by another 8 weeks, Jethmalani can add this period and ask more vehemently for commutation of the sentence.
The whole issue is nothing but bowing to pressure groups which are bent on gaining political mileage.
The State government had ,sadly, to bow to pressure and pass a resolution for clemency.
Jayalalithaas’s earlier stand that she had no powers is correct.
I did not expect this from a no non-sense CM like Jayalaithaa.
On the whole the system of Law and Judiciary is being subverted by mobs, which does not augur well for governance.
read my earlier blog ‘Why Rajiv’s killers be spared?’
Defence counsel Ram Jethmalani argued that the mercy petition of the three men was rejected by the President after more than 11 years changing an earlier convention that any delay beyond two years meant death sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment.
Rajiv Gandhi was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber at an election rally in Sriperumbudur near Chennai on May 21, 1991…..
Assembly passes resolution on clemency Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday adopted a unanimous resolution urging the President to consider review petition of Rajiv’s assassins.
Chief MinisterJ. Jayalalithaa moved the resolution and the House passed it unanimously. It will now be sent to the President.
There is a concerted attempt going on to free the killers of Rajiv Gandhi.
Those who advocate the view that the killers should be spared from the hang man’s noose conveniently forget the pain they caused to the people around those they have killed.
It is not merely Rajiv Gandhi they have killed others too, apart from alienating the Tamils of SriLanka from the Indian polity.
Worst is the man who ordered the killers of Rajiv Gandhi, after years of silence, merely said ‘it is a regrettable instance’.
Another argument is the evidence against Perarivalan is insufficient and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case is not over yet.
-Supreme Court ,Evidences et al is for nothing?
It is another matter that death sentence is to be abolished.
Till such a law is passed,present Law should prevail, not withstanding pressures by a group which can not/refuse to distinguish Freedom Fighters from Criminals.
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