A bench of Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna said the judgment of the top court vis-a-vis AG Perarivalan is applicable to other accused as well.
The Supreme Court has directed the government to release six convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, including Nalini Sriharan and RP Ravichandran. Congress has called the decision "unacceptable and erroneous".
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna said the judgment of the top court vis-a-vis AG Perarivalan is applicable to other accused as well.
"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 Supreme Court seeking early release. They challenged the Madras High Court which rejected their pleas. They cited the court's earlier judgment of releasing Perarivalan who is a co-convict in the case.
Nalini, Ravichandran, Santhan, Murugan, Perarivalan, Robert Payas, and Jayakumar were sentenced to life terms in the case.
On May 18, the Supreme Court released Perarivalan who served over 30 years in jail.
Also read: Rajiv Gandhi Assassination: Who is AG Perarivalan, convict whose release Supreme Court ordered today?
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, in Tamil Nadu when he was campaigning for the general elections. A suicide bomber named Dhanu killed him and over a dozen people.
In 1991, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Perarivalan, Murugan, Santhan, and Sriharan.
However, in 2014, their death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, in Tamil Nadu when he was campaigning for the general elections. A suicide bomber named Dhanu killed him and over a dozen people.
In 1991, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Perarivalan, Murugan, Santhan, and Sriharan.
However, in 2014, their death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
The Congress, meanwhile, called the decision "unacceptable and erroneous".
"The Congress party criticizes it clearly and finds it wholly untenable. It is most unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not acted in consonance with the spirit of India on this issue," Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
With inputs from PTI
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