Madras High Court dismisses plea of ex-SIT member in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition which sought investigation into the role played by former LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanabhan in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

A First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M.Sathyanarayanan rejected the petition by J Mohanraj, son of late Janata party leader Nellai Jabamani and a member of the Special Investigation Team of CBI that probed the assassination of Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur.

"In view of the stand taken by the Director of CBI that they are probing into the role played by Kumaran Pathmanabhan and the final report that would be filed in due course may also reveal the role played by the concerned persons, it is premature on the part of this court to issue a mandamus directing the CBI to consider and dispose of the petitioner's representation," the bench held.

The bench pointed out that another petition filed by Mohanraj in 1999 praying to direct the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) to conduct an inquiry against SIT Chief Investigating Officer DR Karthikeyan was dismissed with the observation that the petitioner did not raise any objection regarding the nature of investigation nor did he pinpoint the defects.

It also quoted the observation made by the then First bench which dismissed the above petition that as a police officer Mohanraj should have brought those facts to the notice of the higher authorities.

"The special leave petition filed by the petitioner before the Honourable Supreme Court against the above order was dismissed at the admission stage itself," it noted and dismissed the present petition.