New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday restrained all states from exercising power of remission for releasing convicts from jail, who are serving life sentence, and sought their response whether the Centre’s nod was needed for the purpose in cases prosecuted by central agencies like CBI.
The Apex Court bench made it clear that there was need for a categorical response ‘whether in CBI cases, states have any role on the question of remission to life convicts’.
The issue of remission was referred to the constitution bench after the Centre had challenged the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to remit the sentences of all seven convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case.
When the matter came for hearing along with other similarly situated convicts including the Red Fort attack case, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar submitted that the Tamil Nadu government has no power to exercise jurisdiction in the cases investigated and prosecuted by central probe agencies like the CBI.
“Today Tamil Nadu has exercised power (of remission). Tomorrow other states would also,” he submitted while reading out the April 25 order of the Apex Court when the matter was referred to the constitution bench by framing the issues that need to be deliberated.
