HC grants one month parole to Rajiv Gandhi case convict Nalini

The Madras High Court granted one month parole to Nalini Sriharan, who was convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, now serving life imprisonment. Justice M.M. Sundaresh and Justice M. Nirmal Kumar allowed the same on the grounds that there were preparations to be made for her daughter's marriage. 

Once out, with a processing deadline of 10 days, Nalini has been directed against meeting political figures or giving media interviews.

Nalini was initially sentenced to death for her involvement in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. However, her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Tamil Nadu government on April 24, 2000.

She claimed that after commutation of her death sentence, around 3,700 life convicts, who had served 10 years of imprisonment and less, were released by the Tamil Nadu government.

"My request to the state for premature release under the 1994 scheme of premature release of life convicts was cleared by the council of ministers and on September 9, 2018, the council advised the governor to release me and other six life convicts in the case. But it has been over six months and the decision of the state is still yet to be implemented," she had submitted.

The AIADMK government had adopted a resolution recommending Governor Banwarilal Purohit the release of seven convicts—Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran, Robert Payas and Nalini—serving life terms.

Chief Minister K. Palaniswami had said his government was committed to the release of the convicts and expressed hope the governor would act on the cabinet recommendation for setting them free.

His statement came amid renewed calls, both from the opposition and Tamil groups, for the release of the convicts, after the Supreme Court disposed of a plea of the relatives of those killed along with Rajiv Gandhi opposing their release.

-Inputs from PTI