HC grants 30 days of ordinary leave to Rajiv case convict Nalini
CHENNAI, JULY 06, 2019 00:00 IST
Nalini being brought to the Madras High Court for the hearing on Friday.R. RaguThe Hindu
She appears in court and makes a fervent plea for parole
The Madras High Court on Friday granted 30 days of ordinary leave to S. Nalini, 52, a life convict in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case. The order was passed after she argued her case in person and made a fervent plea to the judges in a choked voice that she may be allowed to step out of prison for some days to make arrangements for the marriage of her daughter, who is residing in London.
Nalini had many years ago come out on short paroles of a day each to attend her brother Bhagyanathan’s wedding and her father’s last rites.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and M. Nirmal Kumar took judicial notice that the State Cabinet itself had on September 9 last year made a recommendation to the Governor to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. “If, in the view of the government, the petitioner can be allowed to lead a normal life and she would not be a hindrance to society, the request for leave can never be objected to,” they said.
The judges also directed the State government to bear the expenses of providing escort to her during the period of leave since she expressed difficulty in paying the charges.
‘Provide help’
“There is no material to hold that she is a woman of means. Admittedly, she and her husband are in incarceration for decades. Asking the petitioner to pay the cost would in a way take away the very order passed by us when it is impossible of compliance,” they said. They also recorded her statement that she shall refrain from giving interviews to the media and meeting leaders of political parties or any other organisation during her leave period.
In her affidavit, the convict had actually sought for six months of leave but the judges restricted it to 30 days because that was the maximum period of leave that could be granted at a time under the rules though there were provisions of extending it further. Reading out a prepared written speech in Tamil in the open court, the convict said, she was pregnant at the time of her arrest 28 years ago and gave birth to a baby girl in prison.
The girl was in prison till four years of age and then went out to pursue her studies in Coimbatore for some time. Subsequently, she was taken to Sri Lanka by her grandparents and then flew to the U.K. Stating that she, as a parent, could not attend to any of the needs of her daughter, now 27, the convict, with moist eyes, pleaded with the court that she should be allowed to at least find a groom for her and make preparations for the marriage.
CHENNAI, JULY 06, 2019 00:00 IST
Nalini being brought to the Madras High Court for the hearing on Friday.R. RaguThe Hindu
She appears in court and makes a fervent plea for parole
The Madras High Court on Friday granted 30 days of ordinary leave to S. Nalini, 52, a life convict in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case. The order was passed after she argued her case in person and made a fervent plea to the judges in a choked voice that she may be allowed to step out of prison for some days to make arrangements for the marriage of her daughter, who is residing in London.
Nalini had many years ago come out on short paroles of a day each to attend her brother Bhagyanathan’s wedding and her father’s last rites.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and M. Nirmal Kumar took judicial notice that the State Cabinet itself had on September 9 last year made a recommendation to the Governor to release all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. “If, in the view of the government, the petitioner can be allowed to lead a normal life and she would not be a hindrance to society, the request for leave can never be objected to,” they said.
The judges also directed the State government to bear the expenses of providing escort to her during the period of leave since she expressed difficulty in paying the charges.
‘Provide help’
“There is no material to hold that she is a woman of means. Admittedly, she and her husband are in incarceration for decades. Asking the petitioner to pay the cost would in a way take away the very order passed by us when it is impossible of compliance,” they said. They also recorded her statement that she shall refrain from giving interviews to the media and meeting leaders of political parties or any other organisation during her leave period.
In her affidavit, the convict had actually sought for six months of leave but the judges restricted it to 30 days because that was the maximum period of leave that could be granted at a time under the rules though there were provisions of extending it further. Reading out a prepared written speech in Tamil in the open court, the convict said, she was pregnant at the time of her arrest 28 years ago and gave birth to a baby girl in prison.
The girl was in prison till four years of age and then went out to pursue her studies in Coimbatore for some time. Subsequently, she was taken to Sri Lanka by her grandparents and then flew to the U.K. Stating that she, as a parent, could not attend to any of the needs of her daughter, now 27, the convict, with moist eyes, pleaded with the court that she should be allowed to at least find a groom for her and make preparations for the marriage.
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