MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the state government and passport authorities on a petition filed by V Srikaran alias Murugan, one of the ex-convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking a direction to consider his passport application in order to help him reunite with his family in the United Kingdom.
Murugan stated in his petition that he is a native of Sri Lanka and had fled to India during the ethnic violence in 1991. He and his wife Nalini, who is an Indian citizen, were convicted for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and released by the Supreme Court only in November 2022. However, he and three more persons convicted in the case, are still detained at the special camp for foreigners in Tiruchy. Pointing out that he had been incarcerated for more than 32 years, he said he would like to spend at least the remainder of his life with his daughter and other family members who are residing in the UK.
When he sent a letter to the regional passport authorities requesting to issue him a passport, they informed him that he should submit his application online and visit the Passport Seva Kendra after booking an appointment. The authorities also told him that if he is not an Indian citizen, then he should first register himself as a citizen with the Ministry of Home Affairs and only then he can apply for a passport, Murugan said. Though he made a representation to the state authorities to permit him to visit the passport office, his request was not acceded to, he claimed. Stating that he cannot be permanently confined in the camp, he requested the court to help him reunite with his family.
Justice GR Swaminathan, who heard the plea, issued a notice to the Public (Foreigners) department of TN, the officer in-charge of the special camp and the regional passport officer in Tiruchy, and adjourned the case to December 8. Similar petitions filed by two more ex-convicts in the case, B Robert Payas and S Jeyakumar, who are also detained in the camp, are pending before the same court.