KOTTAYAM: Justice K T Thomas, the former judge who headed the apex court bench that sentenced those convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Friday expressed relief at the SC ordering the immediate release of all six people still in jail.
Thomas told TOI that Nalini Sriharan, R P Ravichandran, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar should have been released after completing 14 years of imprisonment. There was no need to extend the imprisonment beyond that, he said.
The former judge had been calling for the release of all convicts in the case since 2017.
Thomas said he wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2017, requesting her to “show magnanimity” and convey her willingness for the remission of the sentences handed to the convicts jailed since 1991. “I never got a reply,” he claimed.
When Perarivalan, another convict, was released in May this year after spending over three decades in prison, Thomas had said the verdict could pave the way for the release of the remaining six. In its order, the SC noted that the Tamil Nadu government had already recommended the remission of their jail term.
Thomas told TOI that Nalini Sriharan, R P Ravichandran, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar should have been released after completing 14 years of imprisonment. There was no need to extend the imprisonment beyond that, he said.
The former judge had been calling for the release of all convicts in the case since 2017.
Thomas said he wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2017, requesting her to “show magnanimity” and convey her willingness for the remission of the sentences handed to the convicts jailed since 1991. “I never got a reply,” he claimed.
When Perarivalan, another convict, was released in May this year after spending over three decades in prison, Thomas had said the verdict could pave the way for the release of the remaining six. In its order, the SC noted that the Tamil Nadu government had already recommended the remission of their jail term.