Before seeking Nalini release, her lawyer got son to file RTI on Priyanka

D Raj Kumar filed an RTI application seeking details about Priyanka’s visit to Nalini, convicted for her father Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Raj Kumar is the son of Nalini’s counsel, S Duraisamy. Waiting to get enrolled in the bar after completing his legal education, Raj Kumar filed the application based on his father’s instruction.

“Duraisamy made his son file the application so as to bring the issue to public attention. Even before the reply was received, the attention created by Priyanka’s visit also brought Nalini’s case back to recognition,” pointed out an advocate.

On record, Duraisamy said that the application was filed to verify the rumour about the visit. “We wanted to authenticate the information about Priyanka’s visit, which only the jail authorities can provide,” he said. However, it was Duraiswamy who briefed the media about the details of Priyanka’s visit and her conversations with his client.

Going by norms of remission, Nalini should have been released by 2005, said Duraiswamy, adding that many rules and procedures were not followed by the Advisory Board while considering her application filed earlier in 2007 and subsequently rejected by the Home Department.

“Prisoners earn remission by good conduct or acquiring education, both of which Nalini has done. She has earned herself an MCA degree and six other diplomas through correspondence while in prison and her conduct inside the prison was also good,” he said, alleging that the Advisory Board did not consider the comments given by the probation officer.

“Her contention about a maximum 20 years sentence does not hold water. There are many across the country languishing in prison for terms much more than that. It is now the state government’s discretion to free her or not. This time, there is intense media scrutiny and public interest. Though it will not affect the judicial decision per se, it could be positive for the petitioner when the release application comes amid this,” said a Chennai lawyer.