AG Perarivalan, 54, one of the life convicts in the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has enrolled as an advocate at the Bar of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry after being released on parole in 2022.
Perarivalan, wore a black robe on April 27 and plans to practice law at the Madras High Court with a focus on providing legal aid to prisoners. He was arrested in 1991 at the age of 19 for allegedly supplying a 9-volt battery used in an explosive device linked to an assassination attempt.
He was formally inducted into the Bar on Monday, with Madras High Court Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari attending the induction ceremony, according to PTI.
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council Chairman PS Amalraj and Vice Chairman S Prabakaran were present at the event. Advocate CK Chandrasekkar filed the motion for enrollment while enrollment committee chairman K Balu took the oath.
The Supreme Court ordered Perarivalan’s release on 18 May 2022 invoking Article 142 after spending 31 years in jail in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He graduated from the Faculty of Law Dr. BR Ambedkar Law College in Bengaluru and later passed the All-India Bar Examination in 2025.
Perarivalan mentioned that his longtime legal battle motivated him to study law to help others who are “wrongfully incarcerated,” adding that he intends to focus on criminal justice and post-conviction reforms.
During his time in prison, Perarivalan did not let incarceration hinder his academic goals and continued his higher education. He won a gold medal after completing a diploma course offered by the Tamil Nadu Open University and also secured the top rank among prisoners in the Plus Two examination with a score of 1,096 out of 1,200 in 2012, according to India Today.
While in the Central Jail, he reportedly completed a bachelor’s degree in computer applications and a master’s degree in computer applications from the Indira Gandhi National Open University, along with seven other diploma programs, some of which he completed on death row.
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Perarivalan enrolled in Dr BR Ambedkar Law College, Bengaluru, completed his law degree and subsequently passed the All India Bar Examination in 2025 after being discharged in 2022.
After joining the Bar Association of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as an advocate, Perarivalan told The Indian Express, “My ambition is not to become a famous criminal lawyer, but to be a voice for the thousands of prisoners behind bars who have no legal aid. Especially for poor lifers who are endlessly waiting for early release, who are denied justice simply because they cannot afford help.”
A look at AG Perarivalan’s journey from arrest to release
Perarivalan was arrested in 1991 at the age of 19 in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, an attack attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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According to his family, he was taken away from the home for a brief interrogation, with officials assuring he would be sent back the next day. Believing that his parents handed him over to the police themselves. However, he was not released as promised. Instead, he was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and initially even his mother was denied access to him, the report said.
For 59 days his location was unknown. The family, worried that the court proceedings could further complicate the situation, refrained from applying for habeas corpus. They remained hopeful that he would be released soon, believing that the justice system would not unjustly punish an innocent person.
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He was accused of procuring and supplying a nine-volt battery that was allegedly used in the explosive device that killed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The prosecution’s evidence rested largely on the statement of a shopkeeper who claimed that Perarivalan bought the battery from his shop. The case was tried under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
The TADA court convicted him and others of conspiracy to assassinate him in 1998 and sentenced him to death, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court in 1999. In 2014, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment due to an extended delay of 11 years by the Government of India in deciding on his mercy plea.
The Supreme Court ordered his release on May 18, 2022, invoking its powers under Article 142 after he spent 31 years in jail in a case that followed years of court cases for his family.
