The Supreme Court today commuted the death sentence of three men convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to life in prison, rejecting the government's view that an 11-year delay in deciding their mercy petition was not agony for them.
The convicts, Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan, can also be released if the Tamil Nadu government grants them remission, the court ruled. The decision will be a politically loaded one ahead of the national election, due by May.

A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam, did not accept the government's view that the convicts did not deserve mercy. The Centre's lawyer, Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, had said there was "not a word of remorse" in the convicts' petition for mercy.
The Centre asked the convicts to prove how the delay harmed them, but the court ruled that it was not needed.


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