Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) Rejecting a four-day leave plea by Vikas Yadav, undergoing life imprisonment in the Nitish Katara murder case of 2002, the Delhi High Court Tuesday granted him one day’s custodial parole for signing some legal papers.

The court has asked him to fix a date for the parole.

“Yadav’s lawyer needs to inform the jail authorities as well as the public prosecutor about the date on which he intends to execute the document,” a bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Pratibha Rani said.

“Vikas Yadav is permitted to be released in custody parole for a day. The jail superintendent is directed to ensure that the applicant returns to jail on the same day after executing the document,” Justice Bhat said.

The court Nov 9 took note of Yadav’s submission that he needed to sign some property documents, and had asked the prosecuting agencies to file their replies.

Public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan said in his reply Tuesday that it was not clear why Yadav needed four days to sign the papers.

“It can be done in a day,” he said.

Yadav’s counsel Vikas Pahwa said that his client needed to complete power of attorney formalities, granting rights to his brother, as the property in question was in the name of his mother and him.

He added that if for any reason the formalities cannot be completed on the same day, he would require more time.

“If the work cannot be done on the same day, you are at liberty to approach the court again,” the bench replied.

Earlier Nov 9, Neelam Katara, mother of the victim, said: “Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav always seek this kind of relief by filing such applications.”

“I have a document that reveals that Yadav brothers have been finding an easy getaway in hospitals. Vikas and Vishal Yadav made 66 hospital visits from February 2010 to date,” said Neelam Katara.

The brothers made 85 hospital visits between May 2008 and February 2010, she said.

“Yadav brothers have been out of Tihar 151 times since May 2008, for varying durations, of which Vikas alone has made 82 visits to hospitals since his conviction. Of Vikas Yadav’s 82 visits out of Tihar, 40 were for follow-up checks,” she said.

Another bench of the high court earlier allowed Vikas Yadav to leave jail for one day to attend his sister’s wedding.

Vikas Yadav, son of Uttar Pradesh politician D.P. Yadav, was convicted along with his cousin Vishal for kidnapping and murdering Nitish Katara, a close friend of his sister Bharti.

The duo kidnapped and killed Katara, son of an Indian Administrative Service officer, on the night of Feb 17, 2002, after abducting him from a marriage party in Ghaziabad as they were opposed to his relationship with Bharti.