After rejecting a couple of petitions filed under the RTI by A.G. Perarivalan, life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who sought to know the grounds on which actor Sanjay Dutt was prematurely released from prison, the Yerwada Central prison authorities in Pune have decided to give him a hearing.
In a communication sent to the convict lodged in Vellore central prison, the Appeal Information Officer / Deputy Jailor of Yerwada Central prison said Perarivalan’s appeal against the dismissal of his earlier plea would be heard on June 28, 2016. The petitioner was asked to send his authorised representative for the hearing failing which it would be decided ex parte .
While the first petition of Perarivalan was rejected pointing out that the Postal Order worth Rs. 10 submitted along in the petition was purchased in 2011 and could not be encashed now, the second one was dismissed on the grounds that the information sought by the petitioner “related to third party person.”
Perarivalan had also petitioned the Ministry of Home Affairs saying that June 2016 marked his 25{+t}{+h}year of imprisonment. He neither got bail nor came out on parole for a single day. In February 2014, the Supreme Court commuted the death penalty of Perarivalan and two others to life imprisonment.
Though the Tamil Nadu government decided to order the premature release of Perarivalan along with six others convicted in the case, the Centre moved the Apex Court and got a stay.
Later, a Constitution Bench ruled that in matters relating to remission of sentence in cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the State should get the prior concurrence of the Centre.
In the RTI plea to the Yerwada central prison authorities, the convict had sought certified copies of all the files relating to Mr. Dutt’s release. The information sought by him pertained to his life and liberty. The decisions taken in the actor’s release had a direct bearing on his case, he said.
