Centre denies rejecting TN govt plea for release of Rajiv gandhi assassins

The Central government on Wednesday has denied all the media reports which claim it has rejected a proposal by the Tamil Nadu government to free seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The CNN-IBN reported that the government is still consulting the law ministry in the matter.

Earlier in the day, a report from the The Hindu said that the centre has refused to free the seven convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case by turning down a proposal submitted by the Tamil Nadu government.

The report further added that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has told the Jayalalithaa government that it doesn't hold any authority to release the prisoners as the matter is sub judice in the Apex Court.

The state government had written a letter to the central government saying, "The government of Tamil Nadu has now received petitions from the convicts with requests to release them since they have spent more than 20 years in prison ... The government, after taking into consideration the petitions of the seven convicts, has decided to remit the sentences of life imprisonment as they have already served imprisonment for 24 years."

The Tamil Nadu government had also written to the Centre during the UPA regime in February 2014, requesting the release of the seven convicts - V Sriharan alias Murugan, AG Perarivalan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini.