Nitish Katara murder: SC seeks UP govt's reply on Vikas Yadav's bail plea

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the Uttar Pradesh government's response on the interim bail plea of Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year jail term in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.

According to the plea, Yadav sought the reprieve for attending to his ailing mother.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said it would be open for the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute a medical board to examine the condition of his mother admitted at Yashoda Hospital in Ghaziabad.

"The medical board will also consult doctors of the said hospital and peruse the reords," the bench said while posting the hearing on April 15.

Yadav's counsel said the mother's condition had deteriorated in February as he placed on record her medical documents.

He said the mother was in the intensive care unit and had refused surgery.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati said Yadav's mother was in hospital and she could be examined there by the medical board.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for Katara's mother Nilam Katara, who is the complainant, questioned Yadav's conduct and said he had visited AIIMS 98 times on medical grounds.

The court, however, observed the petitioner had undergone a substantial sentence.

In his interim bail plea, Yadav said his mother Umesh Yadav was critically ill and hospitalised in the ICU.

The treating doctors, the plea said, advised immediate surgical intervention given her medical condition.

"Due to the serious condition of the petitioner's mother, his assistance and presence is needed," the plea said.

On October 3, 2016, the apex court sentenced Yadav without any benefit of remission.

He is the son of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav. His cousin Vishal Yadav was also punished for the kidnapping and murder of business executive Katara.

The duo was against Katara's alleged affair with Bharti Yadav, sister of Vikas, as they belonged to different castes.

Another co-convict Sukhdev Pehalwan was given a 20-year jail term without any remission benefit.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court, while upholding the life imprisonment awarded to Vikas and Vishal Yadav by the trial court, specified a 30-year sentence, without any remission, to both of them.

It had awarded a 25-year jail term to the third convict Pehalwan.

The Delhi prisons administration had last year rejected Yadav's remission request after his conduct was found to be unsatisfactory.