Bissoy.com
Doctors Medicines MCQs Q&A

Consider the following statements : (a) Nalinis death penalty for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was commuted to life imprisonment on the basis of a recommendation of the state cabinet and an appeal by the Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi. (b) Justice K.T. Thomas who headed the Supreme Court bench that confirmed the death rap now feels that it would be incorrect to hang the remaining three sentenced to death for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination as the antecedents, nature and character of the acused were not considered before.

Consider the following statements : (a) Nalinis death penalty for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was commuted to life imprisonment on the basis of a recommendation of the state cabinet and an appeal by the Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi. (b) Justice K.T. Thomas who headed the Supreme Court bench that confirmed the death rap now feels that it would be incorrect to hang the remaining three sentenced to death for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination as the antecedents, nature and character of the acused were not considered before. Correct Answer Both (a) and (b) are correct 

The correct answer Both (a) and (b) are correct Key Points

  • In October 1990 the plot to kill Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was first hatched deep in the jungles of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
    • The decision followed the Supreme Court’s observation that the Governor shall be at liberty to decide on the mercy petition of Perarivalan, one of the 7 convicts, as deemed fit.
  • Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at an election rally.
    • The Special Investigative Team had named 41 accused in its charge sheet – including 12, who died in the blast and three who were absconding – before a TADA court in Chennai, 1998.
    • In May 1999, the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence of four, including Murugan, Santham, Perarivalan, and Nalini, commuted the death sentence of three to life, and freed the remaining 19.
  • The Justice J S Verma Commission was formed to look into the security lapses that contributed to the killing.
    • Justice KT Thomas who headed the Supreme Court bench that awarded death sentence to the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has written to the former Prime Minister’s wife and the Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging her to show “magnanimity” to those in prison. Hence b is correct
    • The bench headed by Justice Thomas had awarded death sentence to four accused namely Murugan alias Sriharan and his wife S Nalini, Santhan, and A G Perarivalan. Three others were sentenced to life imprisonment. The death sentences to the four were later commuted to life imprisonment.
  • In 2000, the death sentence of one of the accused S Nalini was reduced to a life sentence by the then Tamil Nadu Governor, at the instance of then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Hence a is correct
  • In 2014, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Murugan, Santhan, and AG Perivalan to life.
  • The convicts in the case - Nalini, Santhan, Murugan (Nalini’s husband), A.G. Perarivalan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar, and Ravichandran —are serving life terms across various jails in Tamil Nadu.
    • In 2014, the TN government took the decision to free the convicts and requested the central government to convey its views within three days as the investigation in the case was done by CBI.
  • In 2016, the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the Centre seeking its views on its decision to free them which was rejected by the Centre.
    • Finally, the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu Governor to consider the mercy petition of Perarivalan.

Important Points

  • The assassin's release was recommended based on the power provided under Article 161 of the Constitution.
  • Article 161 empowers the Governor to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences of any person convicted of any offense against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends.

Related Questions

What is the provision to safeguard the autonomy of the Supreme Court of India? 1. While appointing the Supreme Court Judges, the President of India has to consult the Chief Justice of India. 2. The Supreme Court Judges can be removed by the Chief Justice of India only. 3. The salaries of the Judges are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India to which the legislative does not have to vote. 4. All appointments of officers and staffs of the Supreme Court of India are made by the Government only after consulting the Chief Justice of India.   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court passes judgment in a matter. In a later case before a high court, a party presents the Supreme Court judgment as a binding authority. The opposing party claims that the high court is not bound by the Supreme Court's judgment because relevant provisions of law were not brought to the notice of the Supreme Court in that case. Which of the following is most correct in this case?
Principle: Article 141 of the Constitution provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all courts within the territory of India.
Read this statement and state which of the following arguments is/are stronger. Statement: The Central Government should abolish the death penalty in India. Conclusions: I. The removal of the death penalty forever will increase the courage of premeditated and heinous offenders to indulge in such crimes again and again. Therefore, instead of removing the death penalty completely, the use of it in selective and special circumstances is stronger. II. The death penalty itself is equivalent to the state taking life in itself, which is considered a heinous crime. Therefore it should be eliminated.
Consider the following statements: 1. The Chief Justice of India can appoint a judge of a High Court as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court for a temporary period. 2. The chief justice of India can request a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a retired judge of a high court to act as a judge of the Supreme Court for a temporary period. Which of the above-given statements is/are correct?
Which of the following statements regarding the judiciary in India are correct? 1. Article 122 provided the establishment of the supreme court with a chief justice and seven other judges. 2. In case of appointment of a judge other than the chief justice, the chief justice shall be consulted 3. Every judge of the supreme court holds office until the age of 65 years 4. The supreme court of India is free from the control and influence of legislature and executive.
Venu, Sonia, Kamal, Ria and Aish are sitting on a bench. Sonia is sitting to the right of Kamal, who is not sitting at extreme end of the bench. Ria is sitting in between Sonia and Venu. Aish is sitting at extreme left. Who is to the right of Ria?
A passage is given with five questions following it. Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given fouralternatives. He wasn't the first, nor would he be the last, but the wiry, bespectacled man from Gujarat is certainly the most famous of the world's peaceful political dissidents.Mohandas Gandhi – also affectionately known as Mahatma – led India's independence movement in the 1930s and 40s by speaking softly without carrying much ofa big stick, facing down the British colonialists with stirring speeches and non-violent protest. More than anything else, historians say, Gandhi proved that one manhas the power to take on an empire, using both ethics and intelligence. Urges Britain to quit India It is hard to imagine the thin, robed Gandhi working in the rough and tumble world of law, but Gandhi did get his start in politics as a lawyer in South Africa, where he supported the local Indian community's struggle for civil rights. Returning to India in 1915, he carried over his desire to improve the situation of the lower classes. Gandhi quickly became a leader within the Indian National Congress, a growing political party supporting independence, and traveled widely with the party to learnabout the local struggles of various Indian communities. It was during those travels that his legend grew among the Indian people, historians say. Gandhi was known as much for his wit and intelligence as for his piety. When he was arrested several more times over the years for his actions during the movement,Gandhi calmly fasted in prison, believing that his death would embarrass the British enough to spur independence, which had become the focus of his politics by1920. Gandhi's non-cooperation movement, kicked off in the early 1920s, called for Indians to boycott British goods and traditions and become self-reliant. His mostfamous protest came in 1930, when Gandhi led thousands of Indians on a 250-mile march to a coastal town to produce salt, on which the British had a monopoly. What led to the growth of legend of Mahatma Gandhi among the Indians?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
What is Gandhian philosophy? It is the religious and social ideas adopted and developed by Gandhi, first during his period in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, and later of course in India. These ideas have been further developed by later "Gandhians", most notably, in India by, Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan. Outside of India some of the work of, for example, Martin Luther King Jr. can also be viewed in this light. Understanding the universe to be an organic whole, the philosophy exists on several planes - the spiritual or religious, moral, political, economic, social, individual and collective. The spiritual or religious element, and God, is at its core. Human nature is regarded as fundamentally virtuous. All individuals are believed to be capable of high moral development, and of reform. The twin cardinal principles of Gandhi's thought are truth and nonviolence. It should be remembered that the English word "truth" is an imperfect translation of the Sanskrit, "satya", and "non-violence", an even more imperfect translation of "ahimsa". Derived from "sat" - "that which exists" - "satya" contains a dimension of meaning not usually associated by English speakers with the word "truth". There are other variations, too, which we need not go into here. For Gandhi, truth is the relative truth of truthfulness in word and deed, and the absolute truth - the Ultimate Reality. This ultimate truth is God (as God is also Truth) and morality - the moral laws and code - its basis. Ahimsa, far from meaning mere peacefulness or the absence of overt violence, is understood by Gandhi to denote active love - the pole opposite of violence, or "Himsa", in every sense. The ultimate station Gandhi assigns non violence stems from two main points. First, if according to the Divine Reality all life is one, then all violence committed towards another is violence towards oneself, towards the collective, whole self, and thus "self"-destructive and counter to the universal law of life, which is love. Second, Gandhi believed that ahimsa is the most powerful force in existence. Had himsa been superior to ahimsa, humankind would long ago have succeeded in destroying itself. The human race certainly could not have progressed as far as it has, even if universal justice remains far off the horizon. From both viewpoints, non violence or love is regarded as the highest law of humankind.
According to the passage, which of the following statement is not true?
Consider the following statements about the collegium system: 1. It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges made by an Act of Parliament. 2. The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior-most judges of the court. 3. A High Court collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior-most judges of that court. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
What is Gandhian philosophy? It is the religious and social ideas adopted and developed by Gandhi, first during his period in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, and later of course in India. These ideas have been further developed by later "Gandhians", most notably, in India by, Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan. Outside of India some of the work of, for example, Martin Luther King Jr. can also be viewed in this light. Understanding the universe to be an organic whole, the philosophy exists on several planes - the spiritual or religious, moral, political, economic, social, individual and collective. The spiritual or religious element, and God, is at its core. Human nature is regarded as fundamentally virtuous. All individuals are believed to be capable of high moral development, and of reform. The twin cardinal principles of Gandhi's thought are truth and nonviolence. It should be remembered that the English word "truth" is an imperfect translation of the Sanskrit, "satya", and "non-violence", an even more imperfect translation of "ahimsa". Derived from "sat" - "that which exists" - "satya" contains a dimension of meaning not usually associated by English speakers with the word "truth". There are other variations, too, which we need not go into here. For Gandhi, truth is the relative truth of truthfulness in word and deed, and the absolute truth - the Ultimate Reality. This ultimate truth is God (as God is also Truth) and morality - the moral laws and code - its basis. Ahimsa, far from meaning mere peacefulness or the absence of overt violence, is understood by Gandhi to denote active love - the pole opposite of violence, or "Himsa", in every sense. The ultimate station Gandhi assigns non violence stems from two main points. First, if according to the Divine Reality all life is one, then all violence committed towards another is violence towards oneself, towards the collective, whole self, and thus "self"-destructive and counter to the universal law of life, which is love. Second, Gandhi believed that ahimsa is the most powerful force in existence. Had himsa been superior to ahimsa, humankind would long ago have succeeded in destroying itself. The human race certainly could not have progressed as far as it has, even if universal justice remains far off the horizon. From both viewpoints, non violence or love is regarded as the highest law of humankind.
According to Gandhiji, truth complies to which of the following?