SC refuses to extend Vikas Yadav’s interim bail in Nitish Katara murder case
Yadav had approached the court against an interim order passed by the Delhi high court on September 9 denying him any extension of interim bail
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to extend the interim bail plea of Nitish Katara murder convict Vikas Yadav as he withdrew the petition to pursue the matter pending before the Delhi high court.
Yadav had approached the court against an interim order passed by the Delhi high court on September 9 denying him any extension of interim bail. He surrendered the same day and approached the top court seeking bail for his marriage and to arrange the fine of over ₹54 lakh imposed on him as part of the sentence in the 2002 Katara murder case.
“It will be a never ending process if your plea is to be accepted. Now it is marriage, then you will have children, it will go on and on,” said the bench of justices MM Sundresh and SC Sharma, refusing to entertain the plea.
Senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar told the court that the high court will hear the matter next on December 2.
Till then, he said that there are many things that Yadav needs to arrange.
“I do not have an Aadhaar card. I have to organise all my documents. And I need to mobilise funds for paying the fine of ₹54 lakh as part of the punishment imposed on me”, Yadav’s lawyer said.
The court, however, rejected his request for interim bail.
Yadav was granted interim bail by the top court on April 24 on account of his mother’s illness. However, on September 8, the top court refused to grant him further extension and directed him to approach the high court.
Pursuant to this, the HC rejected his request on the ground that it does not have the power to grant interim bail in a case where the top court has upheld his conviction in 2016. It even directed police to verify his claim of getting married as Katara’s mother Nilam informed the high court that Yadav had already been married.
Yadav, son of former Parliamentarian DP Yadav, is undergoing a 25-year fixed sentence without remission for the 2002 murder of Nitish Katara who was involved in a relationship with Yadav’s sister Bharti. He was granted interim bail by the top court in April and had since been getting an extension from the top court on account of his mother’s ill health.
Recently, the Supreme Court had released Sukhdev Yadav - one of the convicts in the Katara murder - after he completed his 20 years fixed sentence without any remission. Besides Vikas Yadav, the other convicts are his cousin Vishal and Sukhdev Yadav.
