Nalini Sriharan, one of the seven life convict in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has once again moved the Madras high court, seeking to be released without the governor’s consent.
In her plea, Nalini has urged the HC to declare as “unconstitutional” the “failure” on the part of the Tamil Nadu Governor to act on the state government’s earlier recommendation for the release of all seven convicts.
The high court has issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government on the writ petition. The first bench of chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice P D Audikesavalu directed the state to file a counter-affidavit.
The state’s previous AIADMK regime in 2018 passed a unanimous resolution in the Assembly for the release of the seven convicts and recommended it to the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Purohit did not act on the recommendation for two years which even the SC termed as an “extraordinary” delay.