CHENNAI: After spending 32 years in prison, A G Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, may finally walk free. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber, Dhanu, at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.
Hearing his plea for suspension of his sentence till the MDMA probe is completed, a bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and
B R Gavai
on Wednesday granted
bail
to Perarivalan, taking note of the submission that he had been in jail for more than 30 years and his conduct in the prison and during his parole has been satisfactory. Perarivalan is out on parole now and he was given parole thrice earlier too. The Supreme Court had commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan and two others in the case in 2014 on account of long pendency of their mercy plea. It is rare for a
convict
to get bail, said legal experts.
Perarivalan's mother Arputhammal, who had made several representations to political executives in the past seeking his release from prison, tweeted, expressing her thanks to Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin, senior counsel for Tamil Nadu government Rakesh Dwivedi and senior counsel
Gopal Sankaranarayanan
for standing by them.
As per the
SC order, the bail will be subject to the satisfaction of the trial court's condition. He also has to report at Jolarpettai police station first week of every month.
MDMK chief Vaiko on Wednesday said the bail granted by the Supreme Court to AG Perarivalan had brought solace to him and the family.
In a statement, Vaiko said that Perarivalan did not commit any wrong and he had nothing to do with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, but he had to spend thirty years of his prime life in prison.
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said repeated assertions of the Union government that the powers to give remission was vested only with the President, even as the court had asked the state government to decide on Perarivalan's mercy plea, was an impediment to his release.
VCK leader
Thol Thirumavalavan
said the bail was a prelude to the permanent release of the convict.