CHENNAI: Holding that the passport officials’ reluctance to process Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict AG Perarivalan’s application on the ground that it was awaiting the police report was unjustified, the Madras High Court has directed the Passport Seva Kendra, Tambaram, to process it within four weeks.
Perarivalan, who was convicted by the designated TADA Court and initially sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, had his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on February 18, 2014, before he was released by the Supreme Court on May 18, 2022, using its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution.
According to Perarivalan, he had applied for a fresh passport under the normal scheme on May 6, 2024. Though he attended the appointment at the Passport Seva Kendra in Tambaram on October 21, 2024, his application was kept on hold pending police verification.
He also submitted a representation on September 1, seeking its speedy disposal, but no action was taken. Finally, after waiting for two years to get his passport application processed despite completing all necessary formalities, Perarivalan filed a petition before the Madras High Court.
In his plea, he contended that the delay was causing him hardship and affecting his plans to travel abroad for higher studies.
After hearing the petition, Justice PT Asha held that since Perarivalan had been set at liberty by the Supreme Court, the passport authority's reluctance to process his application on the ground that it was awaiting the police report was unjustified. The court also held that the counter affidavit filed by the inspector of Jolarpettai police station in Tirupattur district could be treated as the police verification report, as it contained details of Perarivalan's mother and siblings.
The court observed that Perarivalan's sentence had been modified by setting him at liberty and issued a writ of mandamus directing the Passport Seva Kendra, Tambaram, to dispose of his passport application by treating the counter affidavit filed by the Jolarpettai station inspector as the police verification report.
The court directed the authorities to complete the exercise within four weeks and disposed of the writ petition.
Since he was released by the Supreme Court after spending three decades in prison, most part of it as a death row convict, Perarivalan joined LLB course in Dr BR Ambedkar Law College, Bengaluru, under the Karnataka Law University, and completed the course in 2025. He also cleared the All India Bar Examination the same year. In April, he had enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.