Suspect in Rajiv assassination case seeks suspension of life term

The Supreme Court in India yesterday  asked the Centre to respond to a plea by a suspect in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to suspend his life term until the CBI probed the role of the man who prepared the improvised explosive device (IED) for the LTTE, Indian media reported.

The convict, A G Perarivalan, contended he has been jailed for 26 years for supplying nine-volt batteries, while the CBI had not investigated the role of the explosive maker.

Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Perarivalan, submitted that the CBI's Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) has so far not conducted an investigation into the role of that man, who is lodged in a jail in Sri Lanka, the Deccan Herald reported.

"The MDMA, till date, has not questioned him while the man who supplied batteries has spent 26 years of his prime in solitary confinement," he submitted before a bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha.

The suspect now 46, urged the apex court to use its power under Article 142 (orders passed to do complete justice) under the Constitution to suspend his sentence. He claimed that one of the suspects as per CBI's MDMA, Kumaran Padmanaba alias KP, was the chief arms procurer for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the relevant time and was presently in the custody of the Sri Lankan government.

The court asked the Centre to file its response within two weeks. It posted the matter for further consideration on December 6.