The Tamil Nadu government has, on Friday, informed the Madras High Court that it has rejected the plea seeking parole for AG Perarivalan, who has been lodged in the prison nearly for the past three decades in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The convicted is one among the seven inmates who are lodged in various Central prisons in Tamil Nadu. 

The plea was applied by Perarivalan's mother Arputhammal, who sought the directive of the state government to release her son on parole for ninety days. In her plea, she said she is asking for parole owing to the health risks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The plea came to the Madras High Court on Friday during which the additional public prosecutor said that her plea was rejected by the state government. 

During the hearing, the prosecutor has said that the government has rejected the plea of seeking parole as Perarivalan was not eligible to take ordinary leave under the prison rule. The prosecutor further stated that the Additional Chief Secretary of the state home department has said that the parole can't be granted based on the reason expressed by the petitioner and added that the prison department has been initiating measures as per the standard operating procedures to curb the spread of COVID-19 among the inmates in the prisons. 

Following the government's decision of rejecting the parole, the division bench of the High Court comprised of Justices Kirubakaran and Velumani had adjourned the case for September 8, during which the court would be deciding on the matter. By citing that the prisoner was ineligible for parole this year, the public prosecutor stated that he had already been given parole in 2017 and 2019. 

According to the reports, Perarivalan has availed 60 days of ordinary leave and as per the prison rule, he can avail parole only by 2022. He has been lodged in prison since 1991 for assassinating then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when the latter had visited Sri Perumbudur in the outskirts of Chennai. In 2018, the Tamil Nadu government has passed the resolution to release all seven of them and forwarded the recommendation to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit for his consent. However, the governor is yet to decide on the recommendation.