TN govt rejects Rajiv assasin Nalini's plea for early release

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday rejected the plea of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassin, Nalini Sriharan, seeking a premature release.

The state government had on March 11 said it would take a final call on Sriharan's plea in two weeks time.

The counsel for the government is said to have given this assurance to the Madras High Court.

The state government had also submitted the Prison Advisory Board report to the high court.

"For some factors, beyond the government's control, if the decision making process takes a little longer we may have to ask the court for some more time," P S Raman, Advocate General of the Tamil Nadu government has said.

Earlier on March 10, a two-judge bench of the high court, comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice K.K. Sasidharan, had asked the state government to submit their report on March 11.

Nalini, who is undergoing life imprisonment, is lodged in the Vellore Central Jail. In her petition, she said she was entitled for release as far as 2005, as she had completed 14 years in jail.

Nalini was convicted on 16 counts of murder, and found guilty under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code on all counts. She was also convicted under Section 3 of TADA and Section 120-B of the IPC, dealing with conspiracy.

Sriharan's original death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after Sonia Gandhi sought a reprieve for Nalini after she had a baby daughter.

In September 2009, Nalini went on a hunger strike demanding that she be set free.