SC orders release of all convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday directed the premature release of six convicts, including Nalini Sriharan and R P Ravichandran, serving life sentence in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna said the judgement of the top court in the case of A G Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the case, is equally applicable in their matter.
"In so far as the applicants before us are concerned, their death sentences were commuted to life on account of delay...We direct that all the appellants are deemed to have served their sentence...The applicants are thus directed to be released unless required in any other case," the bench said.
Nalini and Ravichandran had moved the top court seeking premature release.
Both of them had challenged a June 17 order of the Madras High Court, which rejected their pleas for early release, and cited the apex court judgment ordering the release of co-convict Perarivalan.
Nalini, Ravichandran, Santhan, Murugan, Perarivalan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar were sentenced to life terms in the case.
Invoking its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the top court had on May 18 ordered the release of Perarivalan, who had served over 30 years in jail.
Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally.
In its May 1999 order, the top court had upheld the death sentence of four convicts Perarivalan, Murugan, Santhan and Sriharan.
However, in 2014, it commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment along with those of Santhan and Murugan on grounds of delay in deciding their mercy petitions. Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2001 on the consideration that she has a daughter.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier favoured the premature release of Nalini and Ravichandran, saying its 2018 advice for remission of their life sentence is binding upon the governor.
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EY’s Rajiv Memani regrets absence at employee's funeral amid work culture criticism
New Delhi: Rajiv Memani, the chairperson of Ernst and Young India, expressed sadness that no one from the firm attended the employee's funeral, saying it was "alien to our culture" and that the individual had supposedly died from extreme work pressure. Memani, who has been subject to intense criticism on social media for what he perceives to be a hostile work environment, expressed his profound sadness for the untimely death of Anna Sebastian Perayil in a post on LinkedIn.
"Although nothing can completely fill the gap in the family's lives, I have sent them my sincerest sympathies. I sincerely apologize for our absence from Anna's burial. This is not at all representative of our culture. Memani said, "It has never happened before and it won't happen again." He also emphasized that he would not stop until the objective of "nurturing a harmonious workplace" was achieved.
Clarifying further he said, “Creating a healthy work environment has always been very important to us, and we place the utmost value on our employees' well-being."I want to reaffirm that our people's welfare is my first priority, and I will personally fight for this goal.”
On July 20, Anna Sebastian Perayil, an employee of E&Y since March, passed away. This week, the incident came to light due to the widespread distribution of her mother Anita Augustine's open letter to the corporation, in which she claimed that Anna gave in to "work pressure".
Augustine stated that her daughter's funeral was attended by no one from the company in question. "I contacted her managers following her burial, but I didn't hear back. In the letter, she said, "How can a company that claims to uphold human rights and values fail to stand by one of its own in their last moments?"
As a result of his denial that “work pressure" was the cause of the Pune woman's death, Memani came under fire on social media, according to an Indian Express article.
The Center started looking into what happened before Anna passed away as the matter escalated in urgency. Shobha Karandlaje, the minister of state for labor, announced on Thursday that a comprehensive inquiry into the claims of a hazardous and exploitative workplace was under progress.
