Reacting to the requests from several quarters to commute the death sentence of the three accused in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, chief minister J. Jayalalitha told the Tamil Nadu Assembly today that she had no powers to commute the death sentences as they have been rejected by the President.

Making a statement in the assembly under the rule 110, she said she was helpless on the issue and she couldn’t do anything to commute the death sentences of Santhan, Murugan and G. Perarivalan alias Arivu at this stage.

Explaining further, Jayalalitha said that the then DMK chief minister Mr Karunanidhi recommended to the Governor to commute the death sentence of Nalini on the ground that she had become a mother but not the three others. “Now, Karunanidhi is enacting a cheap drama as if I have the powers,” she said.