CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has opposed the plea of Nalini in the Madras High Court, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking six months parole. A counter affidavit filed by the deputy home secretary said she was not eligible for grant of ordinary leave as per the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982 and Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.
Nalini, who serves life imprisonment, has moved the court seeking six months of ordinary leave for making arrangements for the wedding of her daughter Harithra, who currently lives in London. She has remained lodged in a special prison for women in Vellore for over 26 years since her arrest in connection with the assassination. She moved court saying there was no response to her representation to prison authorities seeking a leave.
Nalini said that she was entitled to be granted ordinary leave for one month once in two years, and had not availed any such relief so far. She was not eligible for grant of ordinary leave, and had not provided any valid proof like her daughter's visa for the proposed visit to India for the wedding. The petitioner said that she wants to get ordinary leave under the pretext of making arrangements for the wedding. The Tamil Nadu government informed the court last week that it cannot entertain the plea seeking premature release as a similar matter was pending before the Supreme Court in connection with remission of sentences of all the seven convicts in the case.
