Nitish Katara case: Delhi HC grants 10 days parole to Vishal Yadav

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted 10 days parole to Vishal Yadav, one of the three life convicts in Nitish Katara murder case, to attend his younger brother's wedding.

A special bench of justices Geeta Mittal and Justice J R Midha granted parole to Vishal on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court.

The court, however, directed Vishal to remain within the NCR region and restrained him from meeting any of the witnesses in the Katara murder case.

"The petitioner is allowed parole for a period starting from May 20 to 29 (both days inclusive) for attending wedding of his brother Vivek Yadav. On expiry of the parole he shall surrender before the Tihar Jail superintendent," it said.

The court also directed Vishal to report to the local police station on every alternate day starting May 21 and took on record the status report filed by the Delhi Police, confirming the reason cited for grant of parole.

"It has been verified by the state that the marriage ceremony of Vishal Yadav's cousin is scheduled for May 24. Police has verified the booking of hotel for the marriage. "Rajesh Mahajan, counsel for the state, points out that as far as other ceremonies are concerned , it is verified from the receipts of payments made by the family," the bench said.

The counsel, appearing for Vishal, had contended that "Vishal's presence on the occasion was necessary as there was no other male member to look after the wedding arrangements".

Recently, justices Mittal and Midha had upheld the trial court verdict in the case convicting Vishal, his cousin Vikas and Sukhdev Pehalwan for kidnapping and murder. The trial court had in May, 2008, awarded life sentence to trio for the murder of Nitish Katara.

Nitish, belonging to Katara caste, was abducted and killed by Vikas, Vishal and Pehalwan on the night of February 17, 2002 as the Yadavs did not approve of the victim's affair with Bharti, daughter of D P Yadav, as they belong to different castes, the high court had said while upholding their conviction on April 3.