Madras HC grants 24-hour parole to Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict Nalini Sriharan

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted a 24-hour parole to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Nalini for attending post funeral rituals of her father.

According to reports, Nalini's parole plea came up for hearing at 10:30 am in the Madras High Court.

Nalini Sriharan, who is undergoing life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was earlier granted 12-hour parole to attend the last rites of her father.

She, however, returned to the Vellore prison where she is currently lodged, after attending the last rites of her father.

In her 25 years of incarceration, this was the second time when she was granted parole. In 2004, she had got a similar parole to attend the marriage of her brother.

92-year-old Sankara Narayanan, a former police inspector, had passed away in Tirunelveli District.

Political party leaders including actor-director turned chief of Naam Tamizhar Katchi Seeman, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi legislator Jawahirullah, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan paid their last respects to Sankara Narayanan. They expressed their condolences to family members including Nalini.

Nalini was sentenced to death by the trial court in the case on January 28, 1998. Her sentence was commuted to life term by the Tamil Nadu Governor on April 24, 2000.

On December 14 last year, she had moved Madras High Court seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu government to consider her representation for premature release, saying she has undergone imprisonment for more than 24 years.