Nitish Katara murder: SC questions Vikas Yadav's plea on award of sentence

Vikas Yadav, undergoing 25-year jail term for killing business executive Nitish Katara in 2002, moved the Supreme Court Monday challenging a Constitution Bench verdict which held that courts can specify the length jail of term for murder convicts.

The move prompted the top court to ask Yadav whether he can challenge through a fresh plea the validity of a verdict which has already attained finality.

On October 3, 2016 the Supreme Court had awarded 25-year jail term without any benefit of remission to Yadav and his cousin Vishal for their role in the sensational kidnapping and killing of Katara. Another co-convict Sukhdev Pehalwan was also handed down 20- year jail term.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Rajan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing the fresh plea by Yadav alleging that "no special category of sentence in substitution to the life sentence or the death penalty could be imposed upon the persons guilty of offence of murder under section 302 of the IPC".

It said: "Tell us how can we re-open this issue by entertaining your writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution in view of the Constitution Bench judgement which had said that the courts are empowered to award sentence for a fixed period without any benefit of remission (to a convict)."