CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday allowed Nalini and her husband Murugan, life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, to make video calls to his mother and sister in Sri Lanka and London.
The present plea pertains to Murugan losing his father in April 2020. Therefore he wanted the authorities to permit them to make video calls to his mother and sister for at least 10 minutes daily.
The two-member bench of justices N Kirubakaran and VM Velumani allowed the plea moved by S Padma, mother of Nalini. The petitioner argued that this is their fundamental right, which is getting affected.
Opposing the plea, the State had on previous occasions informed the court that the duo cannot be permitted to make calls to a foreign country. The State submitted that the issue has to be decided by the Union Home Ministry (UHM).
However, petitioner’s counsel A Radhakrishnan submitted that prisons are the subject matter of the State government concerned and the UHM has nothing to suggest in the issue.
‘Wanted to call mom and sister’
Murugan lost his father in April 2020 and therefore, wanted the authorities to permit them to make video calls to his mother and sister for at least 10 minutes daily