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The Madras High Court on Friday denied the release of S Nalini and RP Ravichandran, the Rajiv Gandhi's assassination convicts, without the Governor's approval. Nalini and Ravichandran had moved to the High Court seeking a premature release without the assent of the Governor.

A bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala dismissed the petitions seeking premature release stating that a High Court doesn't have powers under Article 142 as that of the Supreme Court.

The seven convicts serving life imprisonment are Murugan, Santhan, A G Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran, and Nalini. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bomb attack at Sriperumbudur in May 1991.

Earlier, the Court had directed the Advocate General to ascertain whether Nalini was punished for the offenses under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act [TADA].

Later, the High Court had called for a copy of the order of the Tada Trial Court in Poonamallee, which had passed an order on January 28, 1998 imposing a death sentence on all the accused in this case.

It may also be noted that a Supreme Court bench of Justices L Nageshwar Rao and BR Gawai on March 9, 2022, had granted bail to A. Perarivalan, a convict in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He was initially awarded the death sentence which was commuted to life imprisonment by Supreme Court in 2014.

The Court had noted that Perarivalan was convicted and sentenced to death for offences under Section 120 read with 302, 324, etc of IPC. The conviction and the sentence were upheld by the Supreme Court.

He had filed a Writ Petition before the Madras High Court for commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment, which was subsequently transferred to the Supreme Court.

Case Title: S Nalini Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu & Anr | RP Ravinchandran Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.