Anand Sharma objects to caste census, says disrespect to legacy of Indira, Rajiv Gandhi
Sharma, who is a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), expressed his displeasure in a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dated March 19.
Convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Nalini Sriharan and her husband V Sriharan alias Murugan have requested mercy killing.
Nalini and Murugan, a Sri Lankan national, are among the seven convicts in the case who are serving life imprisonment in the case related to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumpudur near here on May 21, 1991.
The seven convicts are AG Perarivalan, V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini Sriharan. They include both Indians and Sri Lankans.
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Nalini, who is lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Vellore for the last over 27 years, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madras High Court’s Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi demanding mercy killing, jail sources said.
Earlier this year, she had filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking direction to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all the seven convicts as per the decision of the Tamil Nadu government cabinet in 2018, recommending their release under Article 161 of the Constitution.
However, the High Court dismissed her petition as it couldn’t order the Governor to take action.
Meanwhile, on July 25, Nalini Sriharan was released on month-long ordinary parole from Vellore Central Prison in Tamil Nadu to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding, 20 days after she was granted parole on July 5 by the Madras High Court.
Earlier in November, two convicts in the case, Robert Payas and AG Perarivalan were released on a 30-day parole.
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