⚖️ The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, 1991: The Bombing, the Investigation and 31 Years in Court

Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. In July 1987 he signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord with President J.R. Jayewardene, and India sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka. The LTTE refused to disarm and fought the IPKF until its withdrawal in 1990. By 1991 Rajiv Gandhi was Congress president, campaigning in the general election.

That night, at an election meeting in Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from Chennai, a woman later identified as Dhanu approached him and detonated explosives hidden on her body. Rajiv Gandhi, the bomber and at least 14 others — police personnel, party workers and members of the public — were killed; many more were injured.

The camera of photographer Haribabu, who died in the blast, survived; its pictures helped investigators reconstruct the final moments.

The case went to a CBI Special Investigation Team, which linked the conspiracy to the LTTE. On 20 May 1992 it charged 41 people — some already dead and some absconding. The Justice J.S. Verma Commission examined security lapses; the Justice M.C. Jain Commission looked at the wider conspiracy. Commission findings are not criminal verdicts.

On 28 January 1998 a designated TADA court convicted all 26 accused and sentenced every one of them to death. On 11 May 1999 the Supreme Court upheld death sentences for four — Nalini, Murugan, Santhan and A.G. Perarivalan — gave life terms to three (Robert Payas, Jayakumar, Ravichandran) and freed the remaining 19.

• 2000: Nalini’s death sentence was commuted to life.
• 2014: the Supreme Court commuted the sentences of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, citing the long delay in deciding their mercy petitions.
• 18 May 2022: the Supreme Court used Article 142 to order Perarivalan’s release.
• 11 November 2022: the six remaining convicts were ordered released.

The case tested the mercy powers of the Governor (Article 161) and the President (Article 72), the weight of a state Cabinet’s advice, the effect of long delays on death-row prisoners, and the Supreme Court’s power to do “complete justice” under Article 142.

• Political violence has no place in a democracy. Remember every victim, not only the leader.
• Appeals matter — the Supreme Court reduced 26 death sentences to four after weighing each person’s role.
• Justice includes timeliness — decades of delay raised hard questions for the whole system.
• Sympathy for civilians is not support for violence — the two must not be confused.