The Madras High Court on Thursday extended the parole of Nalini Sriharan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, by another three weeks.
The court had on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to file its response to a plea by Nalini, which sought an extension of 30 days for her ongoing parole.
Seeking the government’s response, a bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and M Nirmal Kumar posted a petition by Nalini to Thursday for further hearing.
The petitioner submitted that she had moved the court as the deputy inspector general of prisons, in a letter last Tuesday, had rejected her representation for extension of the leave for another 30 days, starting from Sunday.
On July 25, Nalini Sriharan was released on month-long ordinary parole from Vellore Central Prison in Tamil Nadu to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding, 20 days after she was granted parole on July 5 by the Madras High Court.
In her current petition, the convict said despite her “sincere efforts”, she was not able to complete the arrangements for the marriage of her daughter within the leave period.
Meanwhile, the High Court has ordered Nalini not to give any interviews and not to meet any political person while out on parole.
Nalini, who was lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Vellore for the last over 27 years, had sought six months leave to make arrangements for the marriage of her daughter.
Besides Nalini, six others, including her husband Murugan, a Sri Lankan national, are serving life imprisonment in the case related to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumpudur near here on May 21, 1991.
Earlier in July, the high court had dismissed a petition filed by Nalini seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu Governor for her premature release.
Earlier in May, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami had said the AIADMK government was committed to the release of the seven convicts and asked the Governor to take a call.
Tamil groups and various opposition leaders have intensified calls for the release of the seven convicts especially after the Supreme Court in May disposed of a plea against their release by the family members of the other victims of the 1991 incident in which Rajiv Gandhi was killed.