HC grants one month parole to Rajiv case convict Nalini

Chennai: The Madras High Court Friday granted one month parole to Nalini Sriharan, serving life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, after she argued her plea in person for seeking the relief to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding.

A division bench of Justice M M Sundaresh and Justice M Nirmal Kumar also directed the Tamil Nadu government to finalise the process for her release within ten days.

It ordered Nalini not to give any interviews and not to meet any political person while out on parole.

She was brought to the court amid tight security in compliance with the June 25 order of the bench granting her permission to appear in person and argue on her petition.

Nalini, lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Vellore for the last over 27 years, had sought six months leave to make arrangements for the marriage of her daughter.

Besides Nalini, six others, including her husband Murugan, a Sri Lankan national, are serving life imprisonment in the case related to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumpudur near here on May 21, 1991.