Tamil Nadu government on Monday extended by another 30 days the parole granted to A G Perarivalan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The 30-day parole was granted in May on medical grounds.
An order issued by Home Secretary S K Prabhakar said the month-long parole granted to Perarivalan will be extended by another month. Sources said the decision was taken by the top brass of the government.
While announcing that Perarivalan will be granted 30 days parole in May, Chief Minister M K Stalin had said the decision was taken following an appeal from the life convict’s mother Arputhammal.
Perarivalan is among seven persons who are languishing in jail for the past 30 years for their role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. The Tamil Nadu cabinet had in 2018 passed a resolution recommending their release from prison and sent it to Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
However, the Governor shifted the responsibility of deciding on the issue to the Centre. After taking over, Stalin wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind asking him to accept the 2018 recommendation of the state Cabinet.
The cabinet had on September 9, 2018, recommended to Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release Murugan, Santhan, Nalini, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, and Ravichandran.
The issue of seven convicts is a highly emotive issue in Tamil Nadu with almost all political parties – barring Congress and BJP – endorsing the decision to release them from jail.
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