Friday marks the end of the deadline given by the Supreme Court to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to take a decision regarding the mercy plea and fate of Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan. His counsel and family now wait with bated breath for the Governor's decision and merely expect a final response, irrespective of whether it works for and against Perarivalan.
On January 21, the apex court had recorded that the Governor's delay was 'extraordinary'. The government of Tamil Nadu in September 2018, had passed a cabinet resolution recommending the release of all seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case under Article 161. And while the Apex court order only records the pardon plea of Perarivalan, it is upto the Governor to take a call on the other six convicts - Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Pyas.
According to Perarivalan's counsel, the Governor's secretary has gone to Delhi to meet with Union government representatives to discuss the matter. The Union Government has opposed the release of the convicts at multiple courts over the years.
"We are not sure what can be discussed now, that was not discussed in all these years," says K Sivakumar, Perarivalan's advocate. "At this point we just want the Governor to announce his decision. We are expecting this to happen by tonight," he adds.
Perarivalan's case in particular received a lot of attention and support from leaders and celebrities after V Thiagarajan, a former CBI officer who recorded Perarivalan’s statement in 1991 told the Supreme Court that he had omitted the part of his statement. Periravalan had apparently told the officer that he said he had no idea why the two nine-volt batteries were bought. He was referring to the batteries he gave LTTE leader Sivarasan. The batteries had been used in the explosive that killed Rajiv Gandhi and several others.