In the sensational 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, Vikas Yadav, son of influential politician D.P. Yadav, received no relief from the Supreme Court. On Monday, the bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed his plea, making it clear that his interim bail extension would not be granted. The top court advised him to approach the High Court instead.
Vikas Yadav, now 54, is serving a 25-year sentence, having already spent over 23 years in prison. His current interim bail expires on September 9. His lawyer, senior advocate S. Gurukrishna, requested an additional four days to allow filing a petition at the High Court, but the Supreme Court firmly denied this request.
The court was informed of his mother's serious illness, and Vikas sought to spend time with her. He also mentioned getting married on September 5 and needing to arrange the imposed fine of 5.4 million rupees. Despite these reasons, the bench refused to extend the bail.
On July 29, the Supreme Court had extended his bail for a week. Previously, the Delhi High Court denied his petition on August 22 and delayed the hearing until September 2, questioning its authority to extend interim bail. The Supreme Court acknowledged this dilemma as legitimate.
Source: aajtak
The top court emphasized that with a confirmed conviction and a sentence of 25 years without remission, the High Court would find it difficult to grant relief contrary to this. If any relief were possible, it would solely be granted by the Supreme Court. Yet, the Supreme Court has recommended that Vikas Yadav revisit the High Court.
In 2002, young business executive Nitish Katara was abducted and murdered due to his alleged romantic involvement with Bharti Yadav, Vikas's sister. The Yadav family disapproved of this inter-caste relationship, leading Vikas and his cousin Vishal Yadav to be convicted for the crime.
Source: aajtak
Another accomplice, Sukhdev Pehlwan, was sentenced to 20 years and completed his term in March this year, with the Supreme Court ordering his release on July 29. Vikas Yadav earlier received bail citing his mother's illness and later secured an extension for his marriage, tying the knot with Harshita Yadav at their residence in Ghaziabad.
Harshita Yadav, from Shikohabad in Firozabad district, is the daughter of a school teacher and holds BSc, MSc, and BTC degrees. She has passed the TET exam and works as a lecturer in an inter-college. The marriage was a simple affair attended only by family. Post-wedding, Vikas Yadav must return to jail.
