New Delhi, India— The Central Government of India today lodged a petition in the Supreme Court to stop the release of four convicts serving sentences for assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The court agreed to hear the plea, and fixed Thursday as next date of hearing.
The apex court had, last week, stayed the move of the Tamil Nadu government from releasing three convicts — Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan — in the case.
Considering a petition filed by the Centre, the court issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government staying the release of the convicts, and ordered it to maintain status quo till further orders.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had earlier said that the state cabinet would apply powers vested in it under the Constitution to release the three convicts if the Central Government could not do so within the next three days.
