Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Madras High Court rejects fresh plea to be set free by Nalini

An appeal by Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and the nation's longest serving woman prisoner, to be set free as she has been in prison for 25 years, though the legal requirement for a life convict is 20 years to be eligible to be considered for premature release, was rejected by the Madras High Court on Wednesday.

Justice M. Sathyanarayan disposed off her petition by refusing to direct the Tamil Nadu Governor Konjeti Rosaiah to consider the premature release but said the state's home secretary could consider her representation for early release, subject to the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement in the matter.

He pointed out that if her appeal was granted by the court it would implicitly amount to directing the Governor to perform his constitutional function in a particular manner and that there cannot be such a kind of direction. "In the light of the fact that the investigation is conducted by the CBI, coupled with the order of the Supreme Court, this court for the present cannot direct the state government to consider the representation of the petitioner," the judge said.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Planned, precise, pulverising

JAYALAITHAA DEMANDS FOR THE RELEASE OF CONVICTS

The Jayalalithaa government is for the release of those convicted in the assassination case. Before the Lok Sabha elections, on February 19, 2014, wrote to the Union Home Ministry seeking its views on the proposal to release of all seven life convicts pointing out that since the case was probed by a central agency, the state government is obliged to consult the Centre in the case of premature release of convicts. The Centre, however, moved the Supreme Court to quash Tamil Nadu government's proposal. The apex court in July 2014 restrained the state government from offering remission to life convicts. On December 2, 2015, the apex court ruled that the term 'consultation' found in Section 435(1) of CrPC implied 'concurrence' and kept the case pending for final disposal.

TAMIL NADU GOVT WROTE TO CENTRE

Again, the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the central government in March this year, ahead of the assembly elections in the state, seeking its concurrence for the release of all seven convicts. The Central government turned down the proposal citing pendency of the case before the Supreme Court.

Diary of an assassin

RAJIV GANDHI ASSASSINATION CASE

In all, 26 accused were sentenced to death by a special court, for the May 21, 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, including Nalini, her husband Murugan alias Sriharan. However, the Supreme Court struck down the applicability of TADA on the convicts, thereby confirming the death penalty for only four and a life sentence for three. The rest were released after serving short terms in jail.

Later, the death penalty of all four was commuted. Nalini's punishment was commuted to life after the Tamil Nadu government invoked Article 161 of the Constitution in April 2000. The death penalty of the three others - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan - was commuted to life by the Supreme Court on February 18, 2014 on the ground of inordinate delay in disposing of their mercy petitions by the President. It is in the light of this that Nalini filed the fresh petition seeking premature release which was rejected by the Madras High Court today.