Supreme Court Refuses to Extend Vikas Yadav’s Bail, Directs Him to Approach High Court

Convict Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the high-profile 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, was urged to petition the Delhi High Court on Monday after the Supreme Court declined to extend his temporary freedom.

On September 9, Yadav's temporary bail will expire.

According to PTI, in order for his client to submit a suitable application to the high court, his attorney, senior advocate S Gurukrishna, pleaded with a bench made up of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma to prolong his client's respite by an additional four days. But the bench turned down the plea.

The top court ruled that it was improper to consider an appeal against the latter's temporary order because the case was still ongoing before the high court.

Gurukrishna stated that the top court may examine his request for an extension rather than sending him to the high court.

“You go to the high court,” the bench said.

According to the attorney, the top court has occasionally granted bail so that he can visit his sick mother.

PTI reported the attorney volunteered to petition the high court when the bench seemed to reject the plea.

Yadav's temporary bail was previously extended by one week by the bench.  Yadav had requested an extension of bail in the high court, citing his intention to tie the knot during the first week of September.

Yadav filed a plea with the top court in response to an August 22 Delhi High Court order that denied an extension of the interim bail that the top court had granted him on July 29.

As soon as the hearing started last Monday, Justice N Kotiswar Singh resigned from the case.  However, the panel granted Yadav an additional week of temporary bail.

Yadav, 54, who has been incarcerated for more than 23 years, also requested temporary bail, citing the fact that his wedding was scheduled on September 5 and that he needed to pay the Rs 54 lakh fine that was assessed at the time of sentencing.

Before the July 29 ruling extending Yadav's interim bail, a bench consisting of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih had concurred with the high court's opinion and stated that the case should be heard by the bench led by Justice M M Sundresh.

Being "hesitant as to whether it has jurisdiction to extend the period of interim bail," the high court postponed the case until September 2 on August 22.

Reportedly, the top court observed the same was done keeping in mind the fact that the conviction of the petitioner by the trial court -- affirmed by the high court with a sentence of imprisonment for 25 years without remission -- stood approved even by the Supreme Court, not only when the appeal was decided but also when the review petition was dismissed.

"The high court prima facie seems to be justified in its opinion that once this court had affirmed the decision of the high court that the petitioner would not be entitled to any remission, it lacked the jurisdiction to grant the petitioner's prayer. If at all, it is this court which can consider and grant relief," the bench said.

Yadav is the son of D P Yadav, a politician from Uttar Pradesh.  Vishal Yadav, his cousin, was also disciplined for the abduction and killing of businesswoman Katara.

Due to their caste differences, the two opposed Katara's purported liaison with Vikas's sister, Bharti Yadav.

Sukhdev Pehalwan, another co-convict, received a 20-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole.  Noting that he had served out his 20-year term in March of this year, the Supreme Court granted his release from prison on July 29.