Tamil Nadu Timeline

Law JusticeDMK-AIADMK alternation

Supreme Court verdict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

· New Delhi

The Supreme Court upheld the convictions of seven accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and acquitted the other 19 sentenced by a TADA court.

In 1998 a special TADA court in Chennai had sentenced all 26 accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to death. On 11 May 1999 a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that the killing was not a terrorist act under TADA and convicted seven of the accused, including Nalini, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, while acquitting the other 19. Death sentences were confirmed for four and later commuted. The fate of the convicts remained a political issue in Tamil Nadu until their release in 2022.

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