his photograph taken on May 24, 1991 shows the funeral procession for slain prime minister Rajiv Gandhi moving through the crowded streets of New Delhi. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE
The top court headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam handed the three life in prison on the grounds that successive Indian presidents had taken 11 years to decide their pleas for mercy against execution.
"We implore the government to render advice in a reasonable amount of time for taking a decision on mercy pleas," Sathasivam told the court in announcing the judgement.
A lawyer for the three men - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, all known by single names - hailed the judgement as "humane," adding that they were now living in hope of one day being released from prison.
"There is hope that the convicts will walk out of jail. The remission will be decided by the state government of Tamil Nadu," Yug Chaudhary told NDTV outside the court.
"It is time that the death penalty is abolished in this country," he added.
The decision comes after the Supreme Court issued a landmark judgement last month that places new restrictions on executing prisoners in the world's biggest democracy.
The top court then commuted the death sentences of 15 convicts, ruling that "inordinate and inexplicable" delays in carrying out a death sentence were grounds for commuting a sentence.
The three at the centre of Tuesday's ruling were members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Sri Lankan-based separatist movement, which was wiped out by Sri Lankan forces in 2009.
The men were convicted of plotting the May 21, 1991 murder of Gandhi by a female suicide bomber, but their appeal to the president in 2000 to spare them the hangman's noose was only finally rejected in 2011.
The lengthy delay contrasts sharply with the execution of Kashmiri separatist Mohammed Afzal Guru last year over a deadly raid on the Indian parliament in 2001 that left 10 people dead.
Successive governments in the world's largest democracy have long been wary of upsetting the large Tamil population in the south where the trio's case has become a cause celebre.
India had an eight-year unofficial moratorium on carrying out the death penalty from 2004 to 2012, with only three people executed in the last decade. The delays have led to a build up of more than 400 prisoners on death row.
Gandhi had become India's youngest ever prime minister after his mother, former premier Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in October 1984. He ruled until losing an election five years later.
His widow Sonia is the president of the ruling Congress party and his son Rahul is the frontman for the party's campaign in elections due by May.
The shredded clothes and the shoes that Rajiv was wearing when he was killed while on an election tour in the south of the country remain on display in a museum in the Indian capital.
Gandhi's killing was seen as retaliation for a 1987 Indian government pact with the Sri Lankan government to disarm the guerrillas, who had been trained and armed by New Delhi in the early 1980s.
After that pact, the LTTE fought Indian troops deployed to Sri Lanka by Rajiv Gandhi's government to supervise the accord. India withdrew its troops after 32 months in which it lost 1,200 soldiers at the hands of the rebels.
Amnesty International said Tuesday's decision piles pressure on the government to abolish the death penalty altogether.
"India must now do away with the death penalty - a cruel, inconsistent and irreversible form of punishment that has no proven deterrent effect on crime," senior researcher Divya Iyer said in a statement.
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Besides Rajiv & the bomber, 16 more Indians died in the suicide attack. Who cares for justice for them? One conspirator Nalini's death sentence was already commuted because of interference by Sonia & her daughter. Rajiv's widow can decide for herself but nobody has authorised the Govt, Dravid politicians or the even the Court to play the fool with the sentiments of kith & kin of 16 innocent victims. World is quite disgusted with Indian method of doing things & with its Courts-latest to ridicule the SC are Italy and EU. Nobody will take Indian judiciary seriously & more global-contempt will follow while the senile ones keep rambling of profound nonsense like satisfying the "collective conscience of the nation."
@water bottle: BJP is much better than congress. atleast BJP will stand for India and Indians, unlike congress based on votebank politics which will ruin India
@Bala:
I highlighted Congress because they ruled India for most of the time.
But, I agree that BJP is as bad or perhaps even worse than Congress.
@water bottle:
Why blame only Congress...What was the BJP government doing during its time? Also did you know Sonia Gandhi personally petitioned on behalf of Nalini to commute her death sentence ...if Sonia Gandhi can find such humanity and mercy in her hearts...why cannot you?
Also, remember Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was considered not be an act of terrorism, since the target was only Rajiv Gandhi and not Indians in general - by Indian appointed commission! But then you do not bother about facts....
Lets hope the next time Supreme Court gives a death sentence and the convict applies for mercy ...the Indian president has the decency to decide on a reasonable time. I think that is what democracy & independent judiciary is all about .
Somebody said Indian justice system is credible.
This is the justice system of India. Congress let three terrorists go free because it had to garner vote bank in Tamil Nadu.
The muslim community which is already losing faith in the Indian system will lose further faith in it. They are already debating how Indian justice system conducted a mockery of trial of Afzal Guru and Congress was quick enough to execute him.
Most interestingly, Congress would have forgiven Afzal Guru also if he was a Muslim of India and not Kashmir.
And Afzal Guru's trial was exactly like the trial of Talwar's of Delhi where the verdicts are given to appease the 'lynch mob' of blogs, media (both electronics and print), social networking sites.
The judiciary takes decades to give wrong verdicts and then the government takes decades to decide the fate of the death row prisoners. There are holes everywhere and perhaps, Indian justice system is the worst in the secular democracies of the world.