The Delhi High Court today asked why furlough should be not granted to Vikas Yadav, convicted for the murder of Nitish Katara and behind bars for last 16 years, if there was no apprehension of a threat to the witnesses, including the victim's mother, in the case.
Justice Indermeet Kaur was of the view that a man who has spent nearly 16 years in jail, "only wants to come out to see the world" and if there is no apprehension of a threat from him to the witnesses, he should be granted the relief.
The court said it would hear arguments of both sides on February 13 before deciding Yadav's plea for furlough as the victim's mother, Neelam Katara, and another witness, Ajay Katara, strongly opposed grant of the relief to the convict.
Yadav sought furlough, a leave from jail for a certain period of time in a year for inmates serving sentences, for 21 days by claiming that he was being arbitrarily denied the relief by the authorities.
The police, represented by additional criminal standing counsel Rajesh Mahajan, also opposed grant of furlough to Yadav on the ground that he did not satisfy the eligibility requirements for the relief.
Mahajan also said that a division bench of the high court while convicting and sentencing him to a 25-year life imprisonment had said that he would not be given any remission during his jail term.
During the brief hearing, the court said that Yadav can be granted the relief by imposing stringent conditions on him and by withholding his passport so that he cannot leave the country.
However, the lawyer for Neelam Katara and Ajay Katara said that his clients are still being provided police protection and Yadav being granted furlough could put at risk their safety and security.
The lawyer also said that the convict's past conduct should dis-entitle him for grant of any such relief as he was an accused in the well-known Jessica Lal case and while out on bail in that matter, he had killed Nitish Katara.
On August 29, 2017 the Supreme Court had dismissed his plea seeking review of its verdict sending him to prison for 25 years.
The apex court had also awarded a 25-year jail term to his cousin Vikas Yadav and 20 years in prison for third convict Sukhdev Pehalwan in the case.
The top court had earlier dismissed the appeals against their conviction in the case of kidnapping of Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002 before killing him for his alleged affair with Bharti Yadav, the sister of Vikas Yadav.
Bharti is the daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav who is in jail in connection with a murder case.
Katara was murdered as Vishal and Vikas Yadav did not approve of the victim's affair with Bharti because they belonged to different castes, the lower court had said in its verdict.
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