"Lankan citizenship not a bar for remission"

There was no legal prohibition on the state governemnt to consider remission of sentence for the three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assasination case though two of them are citizens of Sri Lanka, former Madras High Court judge K Chandru said here today.
Asked if T Suthendraraja, alias Santhan, and Sriharan, alias Murugan, who are Sri Lankan Tamils, could also be set free by the state under powers of remission, Chandru said "yes."
The death sentence of the three was commuted by the Supreme Court today on the ground of 11 years delay in considering their mercy pleas by the Centre.

The apex court had also said "they were convicted by Indian laws and they could be set free on the basis of same laws," the former Judge told PTI.
If the death sentence was commuted to life, the state government can exercise its powers of remission under 433 A of Criminal Procedure Code, he said.
"The power of remission is available only after the minimum sentence is unergone by them which is 14 years", he said.