The state cabinet approved the premature release of the seven convicts, including Nalini.
Chennai:
Madras High Court on Tuesday orally asked the Tamil Nadu government not to allow those convicted of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Nalini and her Sri Lankan husband, to make video calls to their relatives in Sri Lanka while he had already decided to release them and six others.
A magistrate of judge N Kirubakarn and judge R Hemalatha made the observation at the hearing of a petition from Nalini’s mother, asking for a directive to allow her daughter to speak to her mother-in-law in Sri Lanka and to her sister-in-law in London every day for ten minutes.
Clearly stating that they were not in favor of the convicted, the judges wondered why the prison authorities refused to grant the authorization when the State took a position to release the seven convicts from the case.
He was referring to the state cabinet’s decision to release the seven convicts prematurely, pending approval by the state governor.
The public prosecutor, A Natarajan, informed the court that Nalini cannot be allowed to make video calls because there were no such provisions in the rules for contacting anyone in a foreign country.
Since the offense committed by lifers had international ramifications and given their contacts abroad with prohibited attire, there was no guarantee that the convicts would use this facility for personal and family matters , did he declare.
The bench then adjourned the hearing to Wednesday with an instruction to the prosecutor to inform the court of the clear position of the prison authorities.
Earlier, in a counter-affidavit, the state police said that there were no provisions, either in the Tamil Nadu prison regulations or in government orders, allowing an inmate to make an appeal video or even a voice call to
anyone in any foreign country.
The official said that the foreign country issue was under the purview of the Union’s Ministry of External Affairs and that the state government or the prison authorities could not make any unilateral decisions.
Besides Nalini and her husband, the other convicts in the case are A G Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Pyas.
All are serving life sentences for their role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991 by an LTTE suicide bomber in nearby Sriperumbudur.
They were first sentenced to death, but later the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
