Madras high court allows Nalini to appear in person to argue her plea for leave

Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the Superintendent of Special Prison for Women, Vellore, to produce S. Nalini, serving life sentence for her involvement in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, before the court on July 5 to enable her to argue her case for releasing her on ordinary leave (Parole) for 6 months for making arrangements for her daughter’s marriage.

Nalini has been waging war for her premature release and sometimes also for long parole citing her incarceration in prison for more than 27 years and her good conduct. Nalini was pregnant at the time of her arrest on June 13, 1991.

She gave birth to her daughter in prison in 1992. Her husband Murugan, who is a Sri Lankan national, was also convicted along with her and he is undergoing life imprisonment in another prison at Vellore. She came out of the prison only once - on February 24, 2016 - to attend the cremation of her father Sankara Narayanan and returned to prison the same evening.

Her daughter is at her paternal uncle’s house in the United Kingdom. Now, Nalini has approached the court to permit her to argue her case in person seeking 6 months leave for making arrangements for her daughter’s marriage.