Madras HC grants 30-day bail to Rajiv assassin Robert Payas

The Madras High Court on Thursday (November 21) granted a 30-day parole to Robert Payas, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, to attend his son’s wedding.

A division bench of justices MM Sundresh and RMT Teekaa Raaman gave the order while hearing a plea by Payas. He has been given parole from November 25 till December 24. The conditions of the parole include a bar on him to interact with the media, political parties or personalities and an undertaking to keep good conduct and not disrupt public peace.

Payas had earlier filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking parole in order to make arrangements for his son’s marriage, who lives in The Netherlands.

While hearing the matter on September 26, the division bench had ordered a notice to the prison authorities, asking them to reply within two weeks.

The petitioner in his plea had stated that he has been in prison since August 16, 1991 and has completed actual imprisonment of more than 28 years. Payas had said that he had not utilised the emergency or ordinary leave provided to him under the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982. He had told the court, that if granted parole, he will be residing at his lawyer Chandrasekaran’s residence at Adyar, Chennai.

Payas is the third life convict in the case to be granted parole after Nalini Sriharan and Perarivalan. Nalini was granted parole in July to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding while Perarivalan was granted parole on November 12 by the Tamil Nadu government on ground of his father’s failing health.

Payas and six others are serving life imprisonment for the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally in Sriperumbudur of Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.