Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has categorically denied that she had possessed a mobile phone with an active SIM card in her cell at the Special Prison for Women in Thorapadi.
“The case was foisted against me,” Nalini told Judicial Magistrate Court- I Judge A Mummoorthy, when she was produced before the court on Tuesday for the hearing in connection with a case involving seizure of a cellphone with an active SIM card from her cell on April 20, 2010.
“I have been in prison for more than 20 years and how can I sneak the phone and SIM card into my cell,” said Nalini, who was brought to the District Combined Court Complex at Sathuvachari at 12.11 pm amid tight security.
Expressing her unwillingness to make her explanation through video-conferencing, she pleaded that the magistrate allow her to appear before the court for all the hearings of the case. However, the magistrate, citing security reasons, directed the police to produce Nalini only when witnesses are called for, for the prosecution.
The magistrate postponed the hearing to August 19. Nalini’s counsel P Pugalendhi said there were 15 witnesses in the case. The witnesses, including the then Superintendent of the Special Prison for Women R Rajalakshmi, would be summoned for prosecution for the next hearing.
A copy of the chargesheet filed in connection with the case was also handed over to Nalini on Tuesday, Pugalendhi added.
Rajalakshmi had filed a case stating that she had found the banned gadget hidden in Nalini’s cell during a surprise check conducted in the early hours of April 20, 2010. The police had registered a case but failed to arrest Nalini formally, forcing the court to postpone the case from July 29 to August 6.