SC to examine if convict facing life can be freed

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether the life sentence of Perarivalan, the convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case can be suspended till the CBI submitted a report as to whether the two batteries supplied by him were the ones used in the “belt bomb” that killed Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Naveen Sinha issued notice to the Centre and the CBI seeking their response in two weeks to a fresh petition filed by Perarivalan that the CBI omitted that part of his confession that he was not aware of the purpose for which he supplied the two nine volt batteries.

Perarivalan quoted an affidavit filed by the CBI investigating officer V. Thiagaran on October 27, 2017 that “he was totally in the dark as to the purpose for which the batteries were purchased was not recorded by me, because it would have been an exculpatory statement and hence the whole purpose of recording the confessional statement would be lost.”

Mr Thiagarajan said, “Further I did not deem it fit to record this exculpatory statement because the investigation regarding the bomb was pending at the time of recording the confessional statement and even till date. The CBI was not sure about the part played by Perarivalan, but his ignorance about the conspiracy was confirmed as the investigation into the assassination progressed.”