OPS: Govt not putting pressure to release Rajiv case convicts

In a statement, the AIADMK leader said that it has been more than 124 days since the Chief Minister wrote a letter to President Ramnath Govind seeking the release of convicts S Nalini, Murugan, Santhan, AG Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, and P Ravichandran. “Days have passed and nothing fruitful has happened the Tamils are serving jail terms for decades,” OPS said. 

Adding to the issue, state Law Minister S Raghupathy has told reporters that the state cannot pressurise the new Governor regarding the release of convicts. 

It was during the AIADMK regime in 2018 that the state Cabinet adopted a resolution seeking the release of Tamils passed the same to the Governor seeking his nod. Later the Governor’s office stated that the matter can be decided only by the President of India. Subsequently, the AIADMK government had appealed to the President seeking his intervention, OPS said in his statement. 

Back in 2019, then leader of the Opposition MK Stalin stated that the state was not doing enough to ensure the release of Rajiv convicts. But, now DMK government had also appealed to the President but there seems to be no political pressure by the government nor the DMK party, OPS said. 

The DMK which has adequate members in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha should take up the issue seriously and ensure that the Rajiv murder convicts are released at the earliest, the statement added. 

It may be noted that the convicts have been serving terms for over 30 years in Tamil Nadu prisons.