In an unusual plea, Robert Payas, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has written to the Tamil Nadu Prison Department, seeking permission to address a press meet.

The Sri Lankan national, who has been in prison for about 28 years, had petitioned Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in June 2017, seeking mercy killing.

In his letter to the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons), Payas claimed that he was denied justice and that his request to address a press conference should be considered on humanitarian grounds.

Mental agony

Payas said he came to India with his pregnant wife for the safe delivery of their child in 1990, when Sri Lanka was witnessing an ethnic conflict. The assassination of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 shattered their lives.

Payas said he lost his father while he was in prison, and his mother was suffering from various ailments. “My wife and son are living far away from me....Unable to bear the mental agony, I petitioned the Chief Minister, seeking mercy killing. There is so much uncertainty over my release. This should come to an end,” he said.

Though the State government had recommended the premature release of the life convicts and sent the file to the Governor, the Raj Bhavan was yet to respond.

When contacted, a senior prison official said no decision had been taken on allowing Payas to call a press meet. “It is unlikely that a prisoner would be allowed to convene a press conference. There is no such provision in the Tamil Nadu jail manual, and allowing such a plea would set a wrong precedent,” the official said.

K. Sivakumar, counsel for Payas, said the convict wanted to reveal “crucial information” that would enable his release from prison. “There have been instances when prisoners were allowed to meet the press. Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was involved in the Parliament attack case, was permitted to give interviews to the press in the high-security Tihar jail before he was executed,” Mr. Sivakumar pointed out.

Payas is among seven convicts, including Perarivalan alias Arivu, Murugan alias Sriharan, Santhan alias Suthenthira Raja and Nalini, who are serving life sentences in the central prisons in Chennai and Vellore. After the Supreme Court ruled in September last year that the Governor could take a decision on the release of Perarivalan, the State government came up with a proposal to release all the seven convicts and sent its recommendation to the Raj Bhavan.