A life convict, AG Perarivalan who has been imprisoned for 29 years in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case has approached the Mumbai High Court seeking details related to the early release of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was also convicted under the Arms Act. The decision to approach the high court comes after Perarivalan’s failed attempts to seek more details on the same via an RTI query. Perarivalan, who was convicted at the age of 19, under the grounds of having provided two nine-volt batteries which were used in the bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi, it has been established later that he merely procured the batteries without knowing about the conspiracy or what the batteries would be used for.
It is notable that, despite the President having rejected actor Dutt’s clemency petition and his conviction under a law that falls under Central government’s jurisdiction, the Maharashtra government had used its legal powers, rights to grant permission for the actor’s early release.Dutt was convicted in 2006-2007 by a special court under the Arms Act and sentenced to six years which was later upheld by the Supreme Court but the sentence was reduced to five years.In May 2013, Dutt surrendered to serve his sentence in Yerwada prison.
During the period of his incarceration, Dutt was granted furlough and parole on various occasions, and on February 25, 2016 he was released from jail after being granted early remission of 256 days. When Dutt and Arivu are punished under the same Arms Act, how did the Maharashtra government decide on releasing Dutt on their own, without discussing with the Central government. If we get the documents and procedures leading to Dutt’s release by the State government, we could get more clarity,” said K Sivakumar Arivu’s lawyer. The Mumbai High Court has agreed to take up this case and the hearing date is expected to be revealed in the following week.