This blog is about Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin S. Nalini Sriharan. You will find love, affection and connect of three generations whose main link is Nalini.  The South Indian from Tamil Naidu S. Nalini Sriharan   , 52, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was released on one month parole on July 25, to make arrangements for the marriage of her London based daughter. She stays in tight security women’s prison in Thorapadi, in Vellore. During her parole period, Nalini will stay at Pulavar Nagar, Ranggapuram, Vellore. Her mother Padma welcomed her with a traditional Arati.

Nalini has alredy spent 28 years in Jail. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991.  This third time Nalini got parole. Earlier parole were to attend-the marriage of her brother’s wedding and after her father died-but These paroles were just for a day’s visit. This time her parole period is for one month and with 12 conditions imposed on her. According to media reports conditions include, “no meeting with political leaders, no interview to media, no participation in public functions, singing of register at the Sathuvachri Police Station and maintaining of good conduct throughout the period of her stay”.

Nalini during trail period out side TADA Court

What I liked about this commuted Political woman his love for life. Nalini is wearing beautiful golden colour silk saree with zarri work on it. With red bindi on her forehead, earrings, nose ring and with bangles adoring her forearms, Nalini stepped out of jail in a very composed mood and carried herself in a very graceful manners, surrounded by women police personals. Nailini has owned the mother’s responsibility to perform marriage rituals to  marry her daughter. Plus this shows, though, she is behind bars for life, confined to four walls of jail but still she possess the great feeling of love and affection to her daughter. So, she is on parole and with her daughter to share her joys in her life’s greatest event, her marriage.  My congratulations to Nalini on her daughter’s marriage. Nalini’s mother Padama also showed her love and affection to her daughter (Nalini) by performing aarti on her arrival at home from jail.  Expression of love, affection and attachment exhibited a cool and calm manners. This all shows the family has great humanistic vales and they connect with each other from one generation to another. This is the story of linkage of love and affection spread over three generations. Three cheers Nalini for this happy occasion. May God bless you and your family.

Trail History

The trial was conducted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA). On January 28, 1998, the designated TADA court in Chennai gave death sentences to all the 26 accused. This created a storm in India. Legal experts were stunned.Human rights groups protested as the trial did not meet the standards of a free trial.[22] The trial was held behind closed doors, in camera courts, and the identity of witnesses was not disclosed. Ms A. Athirai, an accused, was only 17 years old when she was arrested.

Under TADA an accused can appeal only to the Supreme Court. Appeal to the High Court is not allowed as in normal law. Confessions given by the accused to the Superintendent of Police are taken as evidence against the accused under TADA. Under TADA the accused could be convicted on the basis of evidence that would have been insufficient for conviction by an ordinary court under normal Indian law. In the Rajiv Gandhi case, confessions by the accused formed a major part of the evidence in the judgement against them which they later claimed was taken under duress.

On appeal to the Supreme Court, only four of the accused were sentenced to death and the others to various jail terms. S Nalini Sriharan is the lone surviving member of the five-member squad behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and is serving life imprisonment. Arrested on June 14, 1991, she was sentenced to death, along with the other 25 accused. However, the court confirmed that the death sentence was given to only four of the convicts, including Nalini, on May 11, 1999. Nalini, who was a close friend of an LTTE operative known as V Sriharan alias Murugan, another convict in the case who had been sentenced to death, later gave birth to a girl, Harithra Murugan in prison. Upon the intervention of Rajiv Gandhi's widow and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who petitioned for clemency for the sake of Nalini's daughter in 2000, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Nalini was treated as a class 'A' convict from September 10, 1999 till the privilege was withdrawn in May 2010 after a mobile phone was allegedly recovered from her cell during a surprise check. (Trail portion from Wikipedia)