CBI directed to hand over passport to Rajiv assassination case convict
CHENNAI: The First Additional Sessions Court judge Thanga Mariappan on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to return the passport of T Suthenthirarajan alias Santhan, one of the seven convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The judge passed the orders after hearing a petition filed by Santhan, who was recently released from the prison along with five others - Nalini, her husband Murugan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran - following a Supreme Court order.
He had demanded his passport be returned, claiming he had to renew it as the validity had expired in 1995, four years after he was arrested in the assassination case. Ordering the authorities to hand over the passport to him after proper identification and taking a photocopy of it, the judge directed Santhan to produce it as and when required by the court.
Santhan, who is currently lodged at the high-security foreigners detention camp in Tiruchy, was produced before the court with tight security. Once the proceedings got over, he was whisked away by the policemen. Being Sri Lankan nationals, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar have been detained at the high-security camp ever since their release on November 11.