The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) why no probe was conducted to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, despite permission being granted for the same by a TADA court in Chennai.
The issue resurfaced on a petition filed by one of the convicts in the case AG Perarivalan alias Arivu, who is undergoing life sentence for being part of the conspiracy to kill the former PM.
Taking up the petition of Arivu, a Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and l Nageswara Rao issued notice to the Centre and CBI after it saw that the CBI, which had probed into the high-profile assassination had itself sought permission from the TADA court on July 17, 1999 to investigate the larger conspiracy but failed to report the progress of the probe conducted by it.
This permission was sought in terms of a finding given by the Judicial Commission of Enquiry headed by Justice MC Jain in its report of March 7, 1998 pointing out three crucial aspects of the assassination that needed probe. This included the role of alleged godman Chandraswami, role of foreign intelligence agencies like CIA and Mossad, and the possible part played by 21 suspects who were not chargesheeted by the CBI. When the petitioner approached the trial court and Madras High Court to monitor the probe into the larger conspiracy, both courts rejected his plea, forcing him to approach the apex court.