Rajiv assassination convict Nalini moves Madras high court for leave, wants to argue case party-in-person

CHENNAI: Rajiv Gandhi assassination life convict Nalini Sriharan has approached the Madras high court seeking permission to appear before the court in person and argue her plea seeking six months leave from imprisonment to make arrangements for her daughter’s marriage.
Nalini, who has been in prison for over 27 years, wanted the high court to direct the superintendent of police, Special Prison for Women in Vellore, to produce her before the court so that she could argue her case for leave as party-in-person.

According to Nalini, a life convict is entitled to one month leave once in two years and since she had never availed such ordinary leave for more than 27 years she made a representation to the prison authorities on February 25 seeking six months leave to make arrangement for her daughter’s marriage.

Subsequently, Nalini’s mother also made a similar representation on March 22. As the authorities failed to consider her representation, she moved the high court.

Originally Nalini was sentenced to death. Subsequently, her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Tamil Nadu government on April 24, 2000.

Claiming that after commutation of her death sentence around 3,700 life convicts -- who had served ten years of imprisonment and less -- were released by the state government, she said, “My request to the state for premature release under 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 still remains unimplemented.”