The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed Nalini Sriharan’s plea seeking an extension to her parole till October 15.
Nalini, who was convicted for the role she played in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been on parole since July 25 for making arrangements for her daughter’s wedding. In her plea,Nalini had stated that the wedding arrangements are in progress and that hermother-in-law’s arrival from Sri Lanka to India has been delayed due to visa problems. Mentioning that her mother-in-law will arrive soon in India, Nalini had requested for an extension of her parole. Her plea was heard by Justice MM Sundresh and Justice RMT Teekaa Raman on Thursday.
The state government opposed the extension stating that Nalini has been seeking extension saying one reason or the other every time. Hearing the arguments, the bench said that earlier the court had granted the petitioner an extension of three weeks, though she had requested only for two weeks. The judges also said that the court can only grant parole extension within the legal provisions and hence refused to grant extension. Accepting the request of Nalini’s counsel to withdraw the plea, the court dismissed the petition.
The court had, on July 5, granted a month-long parole to Nalini after 28 years in prison.It was her first parole extending beyond 24 hours during her stay in prison since 1991. On August 22, three days before her parole got over, she requested an extension stating that she could not finish the wedding arrangements despite her best efforts. Her request for an extension was granted by a bench consisting of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice M Nirmal Kumar, who extended her parole by three more weeks. Her three-week extension period is due to end on September 15 and hence Nalini had petitioned the court once again for an extension.
The state government’s recommendation to release Nalini and the other convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case — Murugan, Santhan, Robert Payas,Ravichandran, Jayakumar and Perarivalan – under article 161 of The Constitution is pending with the Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
Source: The News Minute