AG Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will be considered for parole, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi Palanisamy said on Saturday on the floor of the Assembly.
Political leaders like MK Stalin from DMK, Thameemun Ansari of Jananayaka Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, U Thaniyarasu of Kongu Ilaignar Peravai and S Karunas of Mukkulathor Pulipadai, had requested the government to grant parole to Perarivalan. The Chief Minister, responding to them, said that he has spoken to the Law Minister CVe Shanmugam and the State Advocate General about this issue. Later, the parties thanked the Chief Minister for taking steps to release Perarivalan on parole, reported The New Indian Express.
45-year-old Perarivalan has been in prison since 1991, soon after the killing of Rajiv Gandhi in May that year in Sriperumbadur. His mother Arputham Ammal has filed several petitions with the Chief Minister’s cell asking permission for her son to meet his bed-ridden father. DMK legislator J Anbazhagan said that convicts who had spent more than 10 years in prison must be released to mark the centenary celebration of late former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran. Edapaddi Palanisamy had said that they will be taking a decision after consulting legal experts.
Stalin has also cited the case of actor Sanjay Dutt to back his demand for Perarivalan’s parole.
In 2014, Jayalalithaa had announced that her government would release V Sriharan alias Murugan, A G Perarivalan alias Arivu, Santhan, Nalini, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran, all convicts in the assassination case. However, the matter soon went to the Supreme Court and remains pending there, with the Central government questioning the state's powers to grant remission to them on specific grounds.
In March last year, Nalini Sriharan has stepped out of jail for a day-long parole to conduct the last rites of her father. Several key leaders met her at her home.