THE MADRAS High Court has decided to put the death sentence on hold for those 3 persons who killed former Prime Ministers of India, Rajiv Gandhi for a period of 8 weeks. The decision was taken today, on 30^th of August. The three persons, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, who were the members of the then, LTTE, can breathe a sigh of relief for the next 8 weeks. The Union government has also been asked to reply within the next 8 weeks.

The PM was killed in Sriperumbudur at Tamil Nadu on 21^st May 1991. It was a suicide bomber, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam who blew himself off during an election rally, which led to the PM’s death. Around 14 other people also died during the blast in that unfortunate day.

Earlier during the month, on August 11, Indian President, Pratibha Patil had rejected their mercy petitions and had sentenced them death for their role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The execution for these 3 LTTE terrorists, who are lodged in Vellore Jail was originally supposed to take place on September 9. After the court's interim order, the person who was responsible for pleading their case, Ram Jethmalani, said that the High court is doing justice to them. It seems that the case is once again going to be reviewed.  

The crowd that was eagerly waiting for the decision outside the court experienced a mixed reaction, with the outcome. It would be interesting to see how things would unfurl in the next 8 weeks.