A petition was moved in the Supreme Court by the mother of A.G. Perarivalan, who is serving life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking a copy of a communication from the Tamil Nadu Governor concerning her son’s plea for an early release.
Arputham Ammal, represented by advocates Prabu Ramasubramanian and K. Paari Vendhan, said the letter from the Governor was read out by the public prosecutor in the Madras High Court on July 29, last year.
The petition said that it contained a statement from the Governor that he was “awaiting a decision from the CBI/ Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) on a recommendation of the Council of Ministers of Government of Tamil Nadu, dated September 9, 2018”.
The State Cabinet had recommended the premature release of Perarivalan. He had already spent 30 years in prison.
However, neither the prosecutor’s office nor the Governor’s office parted with a copy of the letter to the family of Perarivalan.
“Non-serving of documents to the petitioner (Arputham) would be a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, which that states that no human shall be denied his right to life and personal liberty except if established by law, which means that the process must be fair, clear and not arbitrary or oppressive,” the petition said.
The petition said the State government did not part with the document despite an oral direction from the High Court.
“Not only the principles of natural justice but also basic human courtesy demand that the affected persons are intimated duly about the status of their application, that too in a grave case where the present petitioner’s son is undergoing 30 years of imprisonment,” the petition said.
It said the Governor’s communication in question was “very vital” as a petition concerning Perarivalan’s mercy petition is pending in the Supreme Court.
‘Competent authority’
The Centre, in February 2021, had filed an affidavit stating that the Governor had refrained from taking a call on a plea for early release of Perarivalan.
The Governor had said the President of India was the “appropriate competent authority” to deal with Perarivalan’s request for freedom.
The affidavit had highlighted that the case against Perarivalan concerned the assassination of none other than a former Prime Minister.
Forty-three people had sustained serious injuries in the bomb explosion at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in 1991.
