Governor’s signature not necessary to release me: Nalini

‘Advice by council of ministers enough to let out of prison’

S. Nalini, 52, one of the seven convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has contended before the Madras High Court that signature of the Governor was not mandatory for releasing them and that the advice given by council of ministers to him on September 9, 2018, was sufficient to let them out of prison.

Arguing her habeas corpus petition before a Justices R. Subbiah and R. Pongiappan, the petitioner’s counsel M. Radhakrishnan recalled that a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the famous Maru Ramu’s case (1980) had held that consent of the Governor was just a “constitutional courtesy” and nothing more.

‘Detention illegal’

Further, referring to the Supreme Court’s recent insistence that the Governor could not sit over mercy pleas for long and that a decision must be taken within a reasonable time, the counsel argued that Nalini’s detention since September 10, 2018 should be considered illegal since the Governor had not taken any decision on the State Cabinet’s advice.

After hearing him, the judges directed State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan to get instructions from the Home department by February 18 on the legal points canvassed by the petitioner’s counsel and make his submissions on the specific plea that every day of detention after September 9, 2018 should necessarily be considered as illegal.