Center to Supreme Court to review order freeing Rajiv Gandhi Convicts

Subject : Polity

Context:

Recently Center had filed the review petition in Supreme Court in order of freeing Rajiv Gandhi convicts.

What is the issue:

The Supreme Court has set free the remaining six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, extending to them the benefit of its order releasing their co-convict A G Perarivalan.

What is the background of the case:

In 2014, the Supreme Court had commuted the death sentence of AG Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, to life imprisonment on account of the undue and unexplained delay in deciding his mercy plea.
Subsequently in 2018, Perarivalan submitted an early release application to the Governor of Tamil Nadu under Article 161 of the Constitution.
The then Governor of Tamil Nadu decided to refer the plea to the President of India.
The Tamil Nadu government objected to such ‘reference’, which has no statutory or constitutional validity.
Both Perarivalan and the Tamil Nadu government, in 2018, approached the Supreme Court due to the delay in his release, despite a recommendation given by the then Tamil Nadu government to remit his sentence.

What is Supreme Court Judgement of May 2022:

In May 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the release of AG Perarivalan, invoking powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
The court was of the view that the inordinate delay in deciding Perarivalan’s early release plea by the Governor under Article 161 warranted his release.
The court observed that the inordinate delay by the Tamil Nadu Governor in exercising his powers under Article 161 can be subject to judicial review.
The court opined that the state government is well-within its authority to aid and advise the Governor in pardon and remission pleas pertaining to cases of murder

What center said in its review petition:

In its review petition, the Centre said that the order was passed without affording it an adequate opportunity of hearing,
Moreover, the order suffers from errors apparent on the face of record and falls foul of principles of natural justice.
The convicts who approached the court seeking remission had not made the Union of India a respondent in their plea despite it being a necessary and proper party to the issue.
This procedural lapse on the part of the petitioners resulted in non-participation of the Unionof India in subsequent hearings of the case.

What is Miscarriage of justice:

A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit.
Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions.