The Supreme Court yesterday (7) advised the Governor of Tamil Nadu not to delay the decision on the release of Perarivalan.
The Tamil Nadu government has passed a resolution releasing seven people, including Perarivalan, who is serving more than 30 years in prison, and sent it to the Governor of Tamil Nadu. The Office of the Governor of Tamil Nadu has been delaying its decision on this file since 2018 without announcing it.
In particular, the resolution was put on hold by former North Indian origin, Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Following that, the current Governor R.N. Ravi did not pay attention to it either. M.K Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu who met him recently, urged him to make a decision on the matter. That aside, Perarivalan was suing the Supreme Court over the governor’s delay.
When the case came up for hearing yesterday (07) before a bench headed by Justice Nageshwara Rao, the plaintiff said, “I have been serving a prison sentence of more than thirty years, want to set me free. The Governor must approve the resolution of the Government of Tamil Nadu in this regard. But he has been delaying the decision, the decision must be ordered.”
Meantime, the Government of Tamil Nadu said that the Governor is delaying the release of 7 people. He must decide on that.
Prosecutors appearing for the Central government have asked for a one-week adjournment.
Following the arguments of the three parties, the judges said, “The Supreme Court has already ordered in 2018 that the Governor may decide on the release of Perarivalan. So, the governor has the power to decide.
The judges said that the delaying decision is not acceptable, therefore, the Governor should decide on the decision of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the case is postponed to next month.
