New Delhi:
Rajiv Gandhi's assassin has ended her two-day hunger strike demanding that she be released from jail after 18 years. Will Nalini Sriharan, sentenced to life imprisonment, get her wish?
Nalini's death sentence was commuted at the request of Sonia Gandhi when she delivered a girl, Meghara, in prison. Sonia Gandhi said she didn't want the baby to be orphaned.
For two years, Nalini has been asking for an early release from prison, on the grounds of good conduct. In her latest plea, she also says she's not keeping well. Her lawyer, S Doraiswamy, states, "After eating poor food for years, she cannot even walk for more than 15 minutes at a time. She may not live for too long, anyway."
In cases of a life sentence, after a prisoner has served 14 years, an advisory board appointed by the state has to recommend whether the prisoner deserves an early release. In Nalini's case, sources say the DMK government in Tamil Nadu does not want to hurt the sentiments of Congress leaders by releasing one of the killers of Rajiv Gandhi. There's also this against Nalini: Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that life sentence means exactly that, nothing less.
In 1991, Journalist S Murari travelled to Sriperumbudur to cover Rajiv Gandhi's rally. The prime minister's assassination turned the associate editor into a key witness in the trial. Today, he sees no reason to keep Nalini Sriharan in jail: "Nalini had played only a peripheral role in the assassination. The real killers died. The LTTE itself is now dead. So I see no harm in releasing her."
Police officer DR Kartikeyan headed the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's death. Kartikeyan spent a year finalising the charges that would condemn Nalini to death, before her sentence was commuted. His take: "I filed the charges because of the evidence, the court sentenced her. If they want to let her go, it's up to them..."
Legal experts say that an early release for Nalini may create precedence and legal tangles for several other cases.