The Supreme Court on Friday refused to extend the interim bail of Vikas Yadav, one of the convicts in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, after he withdrew his plea to pursue the matter pending before the Delhi High Court.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S.C. Sharma declined to entertain Yadav’s request, observing that repeated pleas for bail extensions could set a dangerous precedent. “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,” the bench remarked.
Yadav had approached the apex court against a September 9 order of the Delhi High Court, which denied him further extension of interim bail. He surrendered the same day but filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court seeking release to get married and arrange funds to pay a fine of over ₹54 lakh imposed on him as part of his sentence.
Senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for Yadav, informed the court that the high court is scheduled to hear the matter on December 2. Yadav’s counsel also argued that he needed time to mobilise resources to pay the fine and arrange official documents, including an Aadhaar card.
Despite these submissions, the bench rejected the request for interim bail.
Vikas Yadav, son of former MP D.P. Yadav, is serving a 25-year fixed sentence without remission for the murder of Katara, who was in a relationship with Yadav’s sister, Bharti. The Supreme Court had upheld his conviction in 2016.
In April this year, the apex court granted him interim bail citing his mother’s illness, and he had secured extensions until September 8, when the Supreme Court refused further relief and directed him to move the Delhi High Court.
The high court subsequently declined to extend his bail, noting it lacked jurisdiction in a case where the Supreme Court had already affirmed the conviction. It also asked Delhi Police to verify Yadav’s claim of intending to marry, after Katara’s mother, Nilam Katara, alleged that he was already married.
Apart from Vikas Yadav, his cousin Vishal Yadav and associate Sukhdev Pehalwan were convicted in the Katara murder case. Recently, the Supreme Court ordered the release of Sukhdev Yadav after he completed a fixed 20-year sentence without remission.
