<p>Chennai: Congress MP from Mayiladuthurai, R Sudha, on Wednesday wrote to President <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/droupadi-murmu">Droupadi Murmu</a> seeking immediate cancellation of the enrolment of A G Perarivalan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. </p><p>Terming the enrolment as a “setback to the integrity of the legal profession”, Sudha said that though Section 24A of the Advocates Act permits enrolment of individuals with past convictions after two years of release, the provision should not be applied mechanically in cases involving heinous offences such as terrorism. </p><p>“I strongly condemn the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the enrolment of A G Perarivalan, who is the convicted assassin of the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi,” she said, adding that she will not let a convicted assassin and “an active member of the LTTE” to wear the robes of an advocate and access all records and documents casually. </p><p>“I demand his immediate removal from the Bar Council rolls. I am prepared to fight this case up to the Supreme Court, if needed, and erase this blot and black mark on the judicial fraternity,” she said.</p><p>Perarivalan pursued law after he was released from jail in May 2022. He enrolled as an advocate on Monday.</p>.Convict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case enrolls as lawyer with Bar Council of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.<p>Perarivalan was arrested in June 1991 after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi but his mother, Arputham Ammal, believed that her son was wronged by the system and knocked at every door that was available to seek her son’s release from prison.</p><p>From M Karunanidhi to J Jayalalithaa to O Panneerselvam to Edappadi K Palaniswami to M K Stalin – Arputham Ammal met every chief minister who administered Tamil Nadu since 1991 to tell her side of the story. </p><p>She also solicited the support of former Supreme Court judges Justice V R Krishna Iyer and Justice K T Thomas, who headed the bench that convicted Perarivalan. </p><p>Arputham Ammal’s argument that her son has already spent over two decades in prison and he should be released was endorsed by the two retired judges, politicians, and human rights activists. </p><p>A confession by V Thyagarajan, one of the CBI officers part of the team that probed the assassination, that he “altered” the statement of Perarivalan also helped Arputham Ammal fight the case with more vigour. </p><p>Perarivalan confessed that he bought two batteries but did not know their purpose, Thyagarajan told a English newspaper in 2013, adding that he altered the words which eventually led to his conviction. </p>
<p>Chennai: Congress MP from Mayiladuthurai, R Sudha, on Wednesday wrote to President <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/droupadi-murmu">Droupadi Murmu</a> seeking immediate cancellation of the enrolment of A G Perarivalan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. </p><p>Terming the enrolment as a “setback to the integrity of the legal profession”, Sudha said that though Section 24A of the Advocates Act permits enrolment of individuals with past convictions after two years of release, the provision should not be applied mechanically in cases involving heinous offences such as terrorism. </p><p>“I strongly condemn the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the enrolment of A G Perarivalan, who is the convicted assassin of the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi,” she said, adding that she will not let a convicted assassin and “an active member of the LTTE” to wear the robes of an advocate and access all records and documents casually. </p><p>“I demand his immediate removal from the Bar Council rolls. I am prepared to fight this case up to the Supreme Court, if needed, and erase this blot and black mark on the judicial fraternity,” she said.</p><p>Perarivalan pursued law after he was released from jail in May 2022. He enrolled as an advocate on Monday.</p>.Convict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case enrolls as lawyer with Bar Council of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.<p>Perarivalan was arrested in June 1991 after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi but his mother, Arputham Ammal, believed that her son was wronged by the system and knocked at every door that was available to seek her son’s release from prison.</p><p>From M Karunanidhi to J Jayalalithaa to O Panneerselvam to Edappadi K Palaniswami to M K Stalin – Arputham Ammal met every chief minister who administered Tamil Nadu since 1991 to tell her side of the story. </p><p>She also solicited the support of former Supreme Court judges Justice V R Krishna Iyer and Justice K T Thomas, who headed the bench that convicted Perarivalan. </p><p>Arputham Ammal’s argument that her son has already spent over two decades in prison and he should be released was endorsed by the two retired judges, politicians, and human rights activists. </p><p>A confession by V Thyagarajan, one of the CBI officers part of the team that probed the assassination, that he “altered” the statement of Perarivalan also helped Arputham Ammal fight the case with more vigour. </p><p>Perarivalan confessed that he bought two batteries but did not know their purpose, Thyagarajan told a English newspaper in 2013, adding that he altered the words which eventually led to his conviction. </p>