Indian state recommends release of 7 killers of former PM Rajiv Gandhi

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 10 — India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu has recommended the release of seven convicted killers of the country’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The Tamil Nadu government took the major decision at a Cabinet meeting in capital Chennai Sunday evening, following which the recommendation has been sent to the state governor.
D. Jayakumar, a state minister, said the decision was in line with “public sentiment.”
“The governor, Banwarilal Purohit, will have to accept recommendations of the Council of Ministers. There is nothing to reject,” the minister told the media.
According to the Indian Constitution, the governor has power to grant pardons and to suspend or commute sentences of any convict.
Rajiv Gandhi, the husband of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, was assassinated in Tamil Nadu by a suicide bomber of erstwhile Tamil Tiger rebels based in Sri Lanka on May 21, 1991.
The seven convicts — Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham, Nalini Sriharan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and Ravichandran — are currently serving life terms across various jails in Tamil Nadu.
The seven convicts have already spent 27 years in jail. – XINHUA