Court verdict, impact
The Congress party is in distress over the Supreme Court judgment freeing the Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict A.G. Perarivalan. At the same time, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu is in a mood for celebration. The beneficiaries of the judgment are the DMK’s ideological friends. When there are political undertones to the case, only the court should take the decisions rather than political parties making recommendations to the Governor. Second, when the convict’s innocence is not certain, as observed in the Editorial (May 19), empowering State cabinets to recommend the release of prisoners does not augur well for the country’s legal system.
P. Mangalachandran,
