The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended by four weeks the interim bail granted to Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, to allow him to continue attending to his ailing mother.
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh directed Yadav to approach the Delhi High Court for any further request regarding remission of his sentence. The top court has previously granted multiple extensions of interim bail to Yadav on medical grounds.
The interim bail was initially granted on April 24 after the apex court directed that Yadav’s mother be examined by a medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Subsequently, on May 8, the Supreme Court noted the AIIMS medical board’s assessment, which stated that Yadav’s mother was hemodynamically stable and fit for discharge. However, it was also noted that if conservative treatment failed, surgery on her spinal canal may be required.
While granting interim relief, the Supreme Court had imposed strict conditions, requiring Vikas Yadav to remain confined to his residence in Ghaziabad and avoid any contact with witnesses, including Neelam Katara, mother of the deceased. He was also asked to furnish a bail bond of ₹1 lakh along with a surety of the same amount.
Vikas Yadav, son of former Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, was convicted along with his cousin Vishal Yadav for the abduction and murder of Nitish Katara, a young business executive. The motive behind the crime was reportedly their disapproval of Katara’s relationship with Bharti Yadav, Vikas’s sister, as the two belonged to different castes.
Another co-convict, Sukhdev Pehalwan, was sentenced to 20 years in prison without any benefit of remission. The Delhi High Court, while upholding the trial court’s life sentence for Vikas and Vishal, had specified a minimum of 30 years of incarceration without remission. Pehalwan was awarded a 25-year sentence.
