This is an archive article published on June 2, 2015
Rajiv Assassination case: Murder convict to move HC for probe report
A G Perarivalan’s counsel K Tholkappian said Perarivalan hopes that the MDMA probe will clear him as it is investigating areas left out by the CBI SIT.
A G Perarivalan was sentenced to life and has been in jail since 1991.
Rajiv Gandhi murder convict A G Perarivalan has decided to move the Madras High Court to get the government to reveal the findings of the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) probing the assassination.
Set up more than a decade ago, the MDMA, which is looking into crucial angles of the case, including the conspiracy behind the murder and the making of the bomb, is yet to complete its probe. The MDMA, a special unit of the CBI, has submitted 66 sealed covers on the progress of the investigation to the designated TADA court so far. However, the TADA court has refused to reveal their contents.
Perarivalan, who was among those sentenced to life and has been in jail since the 1991 assassination, has been filing RTI pleas on the status of MDMA probe.
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Perarivalan’s counsel K Tholkappian said Perarivalan hopes that the MDMA probe will clear him as it is investigating areas left out by the CBI SIT. “This includes the conspiracy angle and foreign involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi (as well as) who actually made the IED belt bomb that killed Rajiv, and where. Despite there being no evidence about who made the bomb or where it was tested, Perarivalan was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 1999 for providing a 9-volt battery cell as power source of the IED. The evidence against him was a confessional statement taken under TADA,” said Tholkappian. In February 2014, Perarivalan’s death penalty was commuted to life.
Then CBI SP V Thiagarajan, who had recorded Perarivalan’s statement, recently said he regrets having altered the words that led to Perarivalan’s conviction and that Perarivalan never accepted that he knew that the battery he was procuring would be used to make the bomb that killed Rajiv. On record, Perarivalan’s TADA statement reads: “…moreover I bought two nine volt battery cells (Golden Power) and gave them to Sivarasan. He used only these to make the bomb explode.”
The MDMA has been filing periodical reports before the TADA court every three months in sealed covers since 2002. Perarivalan has questioned the rights of the TADA court too. “The SC order of 1999 had clarified that TADA was not applicable in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. So MDMA submitting its reports to the TADA court is questionable,” Tholkappian said.
Arun Janardhanan is an experienced and authoritative Tamil Nadu correspondent for The Indian Express. Based in the state, his reporting combines ground-level access with long-form clarity, offering readers a nuanced understanding of South India’s political, judicial, and cultural life - work that reflects both depth of expertise and sustained authority.
Expertise
Geographic Focus: As Tamil Nadu Correspondent focused on politics, crime, faith and disputes, Janardhanan has been also reporting extensively on Sri Lanka, producing a decade-long body of work on its elections, governance, and the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings through detailed stories and interviews.
Key Coverage Areas:
State Politics and Governance: Close reporting on the DMK and AIADMK, the emergence of new political actors such as actor Vijay’s TVK, internal party churn, Centre–State tensions, and the role of the Governor.
Legal and Judicial Affairs: Consistent coverage of the Madras High Court, including religion-linked disputes and cases involving state authority and civil liberties.
Investigations: Deep-dive series on landmark cases and unresolved questions, including the Tirupati encounter and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, alongside multiple investigative series from Tamil Nadu.
Culture, Society, and Crisis: Reporting on cultural organisations, language debates, and disaster coverage—from cyclones to prolonged monsoon emergencies—anchored in on-the-ground detail.
His reporting has been recognised with the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Beyond journalism, Janardhanan is also a screenwriter; his Malayalam feature film Aarkkariyam was released in 2021. ... Read More
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A G Perarivalan was sentenced to life and has been in jail since 1991.
