Nitish Katara murder case: Mother seeks death for convicts

The mother of Nitish Katara, who was abducted and killed in 2002, today sought death penalty for the three convicts including UP politician D P Yadav's son Vikas saying they were a "menace to the society and there was no chance of their reformation or rehabilitation".
Neelam Katara's counsel, during his arguments on the sentence before a special bench of justices Gita Mittal and J R Midha, said the convicts have also committed several offences while remaining behind the bars, which showed no remorse and repentance on their part.
"From 2002 to 2013, they (convicts) committed over eleven offences, which shows no remorse and repentance. They committed these offences while remaining in custody. This shows that there is no chance of their reformation and rehabilitation.

"I am placing material which prove they are a menace to the society and that itself will establish that there is no possibility of their reformation. So, the only option is death sentence," advocate P K Dey, appearing for Neelam, told the bench.
Seeking enhancement of the sentence of life term to death penalty, the counsel argued the eleven offences committed by them are not only criminal in nature but it was a direct interference with the judicial administration.
Referring to Vishal, the counsel said while remaining in jail, he and other convicts have threatened the prosecution and even tried to destroy the evidence in the case, which suggests Vishal has no remorse and repentance.

Dey argued the convicts have committed the crime of honour killing which comes under the category of the "rarest of rare" and they can neither be reformed nor rehabilitated as they are habitual offenders.

The arguments which remained inconclusive will continue on July 11.
During the hearing, Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) OSD S S Rathi, who was asked by the high court to enquire about the convicts' capacity to pay compensation to the victims or their families, gave the report.
Rathi in his report said the "total expenditure incurred on this case by the exchequer is Rs 5.86 crores".