HC Notice to Prison Officials on Plea to Allow Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Convict Nalini meet Husband

On Monday, the High Court of Madras ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu prison authorities on a plea by Rajiv Gandhi assassination life convict Nalini Sriharan's mother alleging that her daughter was not allowed to meet her husband Murugan for the past 3 months 'in violation' of rules.

Admitting the plea by S Padma, a division bench of Justices MM Sundresh & D Krishnakumar directed the state prison officials to file their response.

In her petition, Nalini's mother claimed though the prison manual allowed such meeting once in a fortnight, the authorities did not permit her daughter to meet her husband in the last three months.

She submitted that her son-in-law Murugan has resorted to "hunger strike" since June 1 over the issue & hence, his life was in 'danger'. The petitioner wanted the court to direct the prison authorities to permit Nailni to meet her husband Murugan regularly as per the rules.

Another plea moved by Padma seeking direction to the authorities to permit Nalini & Murugan to make video calls to her mother-in-law in Sri Lanka & sister-in-law in London is pending before the High Court.

Besides the 2, 5 others were sentenced to death in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at nearby Sriperumbudur by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally in May, 1991. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment later.

Murugan is lodged in the Central Prison in Vellore while Nalini at the nearby special jail for women.

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