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The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Delhi government to reply to a plea by Vikas Yadav, serving a 25-year jail term for the murder of business executive Nitish Katara in 2002, seeking furlough. Justice Ravinder Dudeja issued notice to the Delhi government, prison authorities, Katara’s mother, and others, and asked them to submit their replies before the next date of hearing on November 27. Yadav has challenged the jail authorities’ October 29 order rejecting his furlough application. Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Yadav, submitted that the convict was seeking a first spell of furlough for 21 days to maintain social ties, as he had recently married. The counsel argued the authorities rejected his plea “without application of mind” despite “fulfilment of all the criteria” under the Delhi Prisons Rules. The prison authorities rejected his furlough plea on the grounds that Yadav’s conduct was found to be “unsatisfactory”. They also claimed that, if the convict is released from jail, the nature of the crime committed and the sentence awarded may lead the convict to abscond to another country, disturb law and order, or cause irreparable loss to the victim’s family. The High Court on September 9 had dismissed Yadav’s plea for extension of his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court to take care of his ailing mother. He also sought an extension of his interim bail on the grounds that he had recently married. Yadav, son of UP politician D.P. Yadav, and his cousin Vishal Yadav were convicted for kidnapping and murdering Nitish Katara. They opposed Katara’s relationship with Bharti Yadav, Vikas’s sister, due to caste differences.
