Nitish Katara murder case: SC grants 3-month furlough to Sukhdev Yadav

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a three-month furlough to Sukhdev Yadav, alias Pehalwan — a convict in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.

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A Vacation Bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of the fact that Yadav has already undergone 20 years of uninterrupted prison sentence without remission.

It ordered that Yadav should be produced before the trial court within seven days, which will prescribe conditions of furlough. The safety of Neelam Katara –mother of the deceased – has to be considered while releasing Yadav on furlough, it said.

Yadav had sought a furlough till the time the top court decided his plea for remission as he has already completed 20-year jail term without remission in the case.

The apex court had on February 6, 2015 sentenced Yadav to “life imprisonment, which shall be 20 years of actual imprisonment without consideration of remission”.

Sukhdev Yadav, Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal were convicted and sentenced for their role in the kidnapping and killing of Katara.

They kidnapped Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002, and then killed him for his alleged affair with Vikas’ sister Bharti Yadav - daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav.