TN govt opposes convict Nalini's plea for 6 months leave

The Tamil Nadu government today opposed in the Madras High Court the plea of Nalini, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking six months parole, saying she was not eligible for the relief.
A counter affidavit filed by the deputy home secretary said she was not eligible for grant of ordinary leave as per the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules 1982 and Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.
The government said the probationary officer, who looks into requests for parole by convicts, has not recommended grant of six months leave.
The state government had yesterday opposed the plea of Nalini, serving life imprisonment, for premature release.

She has moved the court seeking six months of ordinary leave for making arrangements for the wedding of her daughter Harithra, who is living in London.
She has been lodged in a special prison for women in Vellore for more than 26 years since her arrest in connection with the assassination of the former prime minister at Sriperumpudur by an LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991.

She moved the court saying there was no response to her representation to the prison authorities seeking the leave.
Nalini contended that she was entitled to be granted ordinary leave for one month once in two years and she had not availed any such relief so far.

She was not eligible for grant of ordinary leave and in addition she had also not provided any valid proof, such as visa of her daughter for her proposed visit to India for the wedding. Under the pretext of making arrangements for the wedding, the petitioner said she wants to get ordinary leave, the counter affidavit said opposing the plea.
The state government yesterday informed the court that it cannot entertain the plea seeking premature release as a similar matter was pending before the Supreme Court in connection with remission of sentences of all the seven convicts in the case.