Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Thursday met Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and urged him not to sign any recommendation of the State government for freeing Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Dr. Swamy told the Governor that the issue pertaining to premature release of Nalini was still pending before the Madras High Court, and any decision on the issue would amount to contempt of court.
He also made a mention before the First Bench to expedite the hearing of his writ appeal in the matter.
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Later speaking to journalists, Dr. Swamy said that he came to know from a section of the media that the review board had reportedly decided to release Nalini.
He said that he had mentioned before the bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and K.K. Sasidharan that any decision of the board would render infructuous his appeal against the single judge order to the State government to reconstitute the board to decide the case of Nalini.
The Chief Justice had asked him to file an application to the High Court Registry for speeding up his appeal, he said.
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He said the constitution of the board itself was illegal. He planned to move for restoration of death penalty for Nalini. He said the State government had earlier said that it would oppose the premature release, now it cannot go back on its stand.