Madras High Court extends Rajiv Gandhi murder convict Nalini’s parole period

The Madras High Court on Thursday extended the parole of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Nalini Sriharan by giving her three more weeks of leave.

Nalini, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who is serving a life term, started her parole on July 25 for a month to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding. Her daughter Harithra, who was born in prison, currently lives in the United Kingdom.

After Nalini sought an extension to her current parole by 30 days as the arrangements for the wedding were yet to be completed, the high court then asked the Tamil Nadu government to file its response. The state government’s prosecutor submitted that the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules provides for a maximum period of 30 days as ordinary leave (parole) for a convict.

Meanwhile, the High Court mentioned that rule number 22 states about the extension of 30 days’ holiday, but it can be exercised only after the initial grant. The Madras High Court extended Nalini’s parole by three weeks.

During the hearing, Nalini also said that the deputy inspector general of prisons had rejected her earlier petition seeking an extension of the leave for another 30 days.

Nalini, the longest-serving woman convict in the country, is currently staying in the house of Singarayar, the state deputy general secretary of Dravida Iyakka Tamizhar Peravai, in Sathuvachari area of Vellore.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, by a woman LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Besides Nalini and Murugan, others convicted for life in the case are Suthenthira Raja alias Santhan, AG Perarivalan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

The Tamil Nadu government had in September last year recommended to Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release Nalini and the six other convicts, whose death sentence was commuted to life, in tune with the Supreme Court verdict. The governor is yet to decide on the cabinet resolution.