Chennai, Aug 30 : In a major relief for three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed their hanging which was scheduled on September 9. Hearing their mercy petition the High Court gave interim relief for eight weeks to Murugan alias Sriharan, Santhan and Perarivalan alias Arivu.
The Centre will file a counter affidavit in the case within eight weeks.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Assembly also adopted a resolution moved by the J Jayalalithaa government urging the President to consider the clemency petition and commute their death sentence to life sentence.
The three convicts filed a petition on the grounds that the President of India took 11 years to reject their mercy pleas. Senior Counsel Ram Jethmalani appeared for the convicts in a case that has political overtones especially in Tamil Nadu.
K Perarivalan alias Arivu is the only Indian amongst the three men who are facing the death sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on September 9.
The families of the death row convicts hope political and legal intervention could stop the hanging.
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