The Madras High Court has extended the parole granted to AG Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, by two weeks considering his health grounds. The Madras HC had earlier granted 30-day parole to Perarivalan from October 9 considering his multiple health complications in the wake of the pandemic.
The mother of AG Perarivalan, T Arputham filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the Madras High Court seeking an extension of the 30-day parole granted to his son. The petitioner said that the Court should extend the parole after taking note of the situation since many convicts in jail were testing positive for coronavirus and her son who is in the prison for over 29 years needs medical support.
The case came up for hearing before the bench of justices M M Sundresh and D Krishnakumar. The counsel appearing for Perarivalan said that there are higher chances for Perarivalan contracting the infection unless proper treatment is provided due to the comorbidities. The Bench taking note of the situation extended the parole by two weeks till November 23.
The Tamil Nadu government earlier refused to grant leave until 2022 since Perarivalan was released on parole only last year due to his father’s health conditions and to attend a wedding. However, the Madras HC bench consisting of Justices Kirubakaran and P Velmurgan granted parole to Perarivalan.
Perarivalan has received parole at a time when there is an increased demand to release the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case since they have served over two complete life terms. Also, the Supreme Court expressed discontent over Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s delay by two years in deciding on the remission of sentence given to Perarivalan. Justice Nageswara Rao said, “We do not want to exercise jurisdiction but we are not happy about how this recommendation has been pending before the Governor for two years.”