The Supreme Court Wednesday granted bail to A G Perarivalan, serving life term in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. An apex court bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao said Perarivalan has undergone 32 years in prison and there were no complaints about his conduct when he was released thrice before on parole. 

“There is no dispute regarding the fact that Perarivalan has undergone 32 years of sentence. Applicant was released on parole thrice earlier and there was no complaint about his conduct during the release. We are informed that applicant is on parole at present. Taking note of the fact that he has spent more than 30 years in jail, we are of view that he is entitled to be released on bail,” the court ordered. 

The Supreme Court added Perarivalan is entitled to be released on bail despite repeated opposition by the Additional Solicitor General. 

“Bail will be subject to conditions by trial court and he shall report to CBI officer on first of every month. For the present time let him report on local police station,” the Court added. 

Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur. Gandhi was in the midst of an election campaign. He got out of his car and was walking towards the dais where he was set to deliver a speech. 

The assassin, Dhanu (Thenmozi Rajaratnam), greeted the PM, bent down to touch his feet and detonated an bomb laden belt tucked below her dress at 10:10 pm. The explosion killed Rajiv Gandhi, his assassin and 14 others. 

Seven people were convicted and sentenced for facilitating the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to life imprisonment. Those convicted were: Murugan alias Sriharan (an LTTE operative from Sri Lanka), Nalini, Santhan, Robert Pious, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and AG Perarivalan. 

Perarivalan was charged with providing access to a 9-volt battery for the explosive device to assassination conspirator Sivarasan. 

Perarivalan was arrested on June 11, 1991 by the CBI. His death penalty was commuted to life term imprisonment after a Supreme Court verdict on February 18, 2014.