Former Supreme Court judge Justice K T Thomas said he was happy that A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was released on Wednesday as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Thomas had headed the Bench that had delivered the initial judgment in 1999 in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
According to the retired judge, the objective of imprisonment was to reform a person; not to put him behind bars till his death and destroy his life. Thomas told DH that Perarivalan should have been given an opportunity to lead a normal life much earlier.
Thomas also advised Perarivalan to try and lead a normal life. “I wish he gets married and leads a happy family life,” said Thomas.
Perarivalan, who was 19 years old when arrested, was accused of buying the batteries used in the bomb that killed the former Prime Minister of India.
According to Thomas, even as the Constitution provides for reviewing a life sentence after completing 14 years of imprisonment and giving remission, in Perarivalan’s case, it did not happen. Thomas wondered why there was no proper reason stated as there were adverse reports against Perarivalan from the prison advisory committee.
"There was no justification for having delayed Perarivalan’s release. Even those convicted in the Mahatma Gandhi assassination case were given remission after 14 years," Thomas said.
Thomas, who had been pursuing the release of Perarivalan for a while, had even written to Rajiv Gandhi’s family in 2017 to show leniency as they had spent over 25 years in prison.
It was in May 1999 that a Bench headed by Justice Thomas convicted the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Later, Thomas opposed executing the death penalty for three of them, including Perarivalan, citing they had already undergone over 20 years’ imprisonment, which amounted to a life sentence. Hence, executing a death sentence would amount to punishing a person twice for the same crime, he had said.
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