‘He married in July’: Nilam Katara urges HC to reject Vikas Yadav’s bail plea

Yadav, however, withdrew his application for an extension of interim bail, stating the issue was already before the Supreme Court. The Delhi high court allowed the withdrawal and asked Nilam Katara to raise her concerns with the apex court

The mother of Nitish Katara on Tuesday urged the Delhi high court to dismiss Vikas Yadav’s plea for interim bail to get married on September 5, claiming he had already tied the knot in July at a Noida venue.

The interim bail plea was filed in Yadav’s petition challenging the condition that Vikas Yadav remain in jail for 25 years without remission. Yadav argued that he had already served more than 23 years in custody and that the high court lacked the power to deny remission while imposing such a sentence. (HT Archive)

Nilam Katara, represented by advocate Vrinda Bhandari, submitted photographs as evidence and asked the court to direct Delhi Police to verify her claim. She argued Yadav could use marriage as a pretext to seek further bail extensions before the Supreme Court.

Yadav, however, withdrew his application for an extension of interim bail, stating the issue was already before the Supreme Court, which had extended his bail for a week on Monday. The Delhi high court allowed the withdrawal and asked Nilam Katara to raise her concerns with the apex court.

“In case the Supreme Court would want, it would get verified. You (Nilam Katara) can make the request before the SC. After the application is withdrawn, this court will not entertain it,” justice Ravinder Dudeja said.

The court dismissed Yadav’s plea as withdrawn and recorded that his counsel had instructions not to press the application.

The interim bail plea was filed in Yadav’s petition challenging the condition that Vikas Yadav remain in jail for 25 years without remission. Yadav argued that he had already served more than 23 years in custody and that the high court lacked the power to deny remission while imposing such a sentence.

On August 22, the court sought responses from Delhi Police, Nilam Katara, and the Centre. In affidavits filed Monday, both Nilam and Delhi Police opposed the plea, stressing that the 25-year no-remission condition had been upheld by the Supreme Court and could not be reopened through a writ petition.

“The aspect of remission, having attained finality up to the Supreme Court, cannot be re-agitated by way of the present writ,” Delhi Police said in its affidavit. Nilam added that the 2016 order affirming the sentence had “attained finality” and could not be challenged before any constitutional court.

The matter will be heard next on November 9.

Katara was abducted from a wedding on the night of February 16-17, 2002, and killed over his alleged relationship with Bharti Yadav, sister of Vikas Yadav, son of former Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav. In 2008, a trial court convicted Vikas, his cousin Vishal, and their aide Sukhdev Pehelwan of kidnapping and murdering Katara, sentencing them to life imprisonment.