Soumya Viswanathan murder case: SC rejects parole plea of accused

The Supreme Court today refused to grant 15 days parole to a life convict, who is also facing trial in the sensational 2008 murder case of TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan termed the conduct of Ravi Kapoor in jail as "unsatisfactory" and set aside the order of Delhi High Court granting him parole and bail.

The high court had granted him bail and paroles in three different cases on the ground of allowing him to file appeal in apex court against his life sentence awarded to him in one case.

The bench said though it is very liberal in granting parole to the accused but in the instant case, Kapoor can easily file appeal in apex court from jail as per the prison norms.

The counsel for Kapoor said that there are some technical points which need to be looked into and a 15-day parole should be granted to him.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for Delhi Police, opposed the parole plea and said that Kapoor was involved in the murder of two single working women.

He said, "The convict was held guilty in one case and trial court had awarded him death penalty considering the crime as rarest of rare. The death penalty was later commuted to life sentence."
To this, the bench said, "we have to ensure that he doesn't run away. He is a life convict. Let him make alternate arrangements for filing the appeal."