Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Madras HC dismisses plea seeking release of convicts Nalini Sriharan & Ravichandran

The Madras High Court added that the petitioners could approach the Supreme Court if their plea was based on Perarivalan’s release.

nalini sriharan parole, nalini sriharan parole extended, nalini sriharan, rajiv gandhi assassination case, rajiv gandhi assassination, nalini sriharan rajiv gandhi assassination, india news, Indian ExpressNalini Sriharan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. (PTI)

The Madras High Court Friday dismissed a plea seeking premature release of Nalini Sriharan and P Ravichandran, both of whom are convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The High Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala, observed that the court did not have special powers that the Supreme Court has under Article 142 of the Constitution and hence cannot order the release, like the Supreme Court did for A G Perarivalan in May 2022, Live Law reported. As such, the petition was dismissed as it was not maintainable.

Earlier in May this year, the Supreme Court had evoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to release AG Perarivalan, who was one of the seven convicts in the assassination case.

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The Madras High Court added that the petitioners could approach the Supreme Court if their plea was based on Perarivalan’s release.

Both Nalini and Ravichandran had moved the Madras High court seeking their premature release. The petition sought for declaring that the action of the Govenor who failed to act in accordance with the recommendations of the council of ministers was unconstitutional, as reported by Live Law. The petition also sought direction to the state to release the petitioner from prison immediately without the approval of the Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber of the LTTE at an election meeting in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur in 1991. Seven people — Murugan alias Sriharan, Nalini, AG Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P Ravichandran were convicted that same year.

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