One of the Rajiv Gandhi case convicts AG Perarivalan is all set to walk free for a month after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin pays heed to the appeal from the convict's mother to grant parole for his son by citing his health issues. Perarivalan has been under incarceration nearly for the past three decades and currently, he has been lodged in Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai. 

According to reports, the Chief Minister has on Wednesday ordered to provide 30 days of ordinary leave to Perarivalan on medical grounds. MK Stalin has considered a petition from Perarivalan's mother Arputham Ammal in which she sought leave for her son on medical grounds. She had appealed to the Chief Minister last week and the order of the release has been passed on Wednesday. 

Arputham Ammal has requested 30 days' leave for her son as per the provision of the Tamil Nadu Prisoners Manual. In her plea, she stated that the surging COVID-19 cases in prison would put her son in threat as he has already been suffering from health issues. The Chief Minister has considered her appeal and the official release from the government has said that Perarivalan has been granted 30-day ordinary leave. 

It has been reported that Perarivalan will be walking out of prison on Thursday after completing the formalities. Following the order of releasing her son, Arputham Ammal said, "I thank Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for granting leave by understanding the feelings of a mother, learning about Arivu's (Perarivalan) health and reviewing the petition." 

Arputham Ammal took to social media on May 18 and said that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising deaths in Tamil Nadu prisons are creating a frightening situation. She stated that the prison medical team has already said that the infections create a risky situation for Perarivalan, who is already suffering from several diseases. She added that there is also a need to continue his medical treatment. 

She said that she has sent a petition seeking a long leave for her son on May 10 and she appealed to the Chief Minister to consider her plea and grant leave for her son. Following the plea, the Chief Minister has passed the order of providing 30-day parole for Perarivalan. He is one of the seven convicts - Perarivalan, Murugan alias Sriharan, Santhan, Nalini, Ravichandran, Jayakumar, and Robert Payas convicted for assassinating the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 when he came to a campaign in Sriperumbudur in Chennai. 

Of these seven, four including Perarivalan were awarded death sentences in 1999, and in 2014, the apex court had commuted the death sentences to life sentences by citing a delay in deciding their mercy petitions. All seven have been serving their life sentences in various central prisons in Tamil Nadu and Nalini is the long-serving woman inmate in India. It must be noted that Perarivalan had come out of the prison on 30-day parole last year on medical grounds.