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Madhumita Shukla murder: Supreme Court refuses to stay release of Amarmani Tripathi, wife
The Uttar Pradesh prisons department on Thursday issued an order for the premature release of Amarmani Tripathi.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the release of former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani, serving a life term in the poet Madhumita Shukla murder case.
The court also issued notices to the UP government on a plea against their release, news agency PTI reported. The Uttar Pradesh prisons department had on Thursday issued an order for the premature release of Amarmani Tripathi, citing the state's 2018 policy on remission, since they have completed 16 years of imprisonment.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notices to the state government, Tripathi and his wife while seeking their replies within eight weeks on a plea filed by the poet's sister Nidhi Shukla.
The prisons department also cited their age and good behaviour as Amarmani is 66 and Madhumani is 61, the official said citing the order.
Amarmani and his wife are currently admitted to the BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur.
Who was Madhumita Shukla?
Poet Madhumita, who was pregnant, was shot dead on May 9, 2003, in Paper Mill Colony, Lucknow. Amarmani was arrested in September 2003 in connection with the murder of the poet with whom he was allegedly in a relationship.
A Dehradun court had sentenced Amarmani and Madhumani to life imprisonment for the murder in October 2007. Later the Nainital high court and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the couple. The case was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
"I have been telling everyone that this is going to happen. I have procured the documents through an RTI which clearly state that 62 per cent of the jail term that the two are said to have served had been spent out of jail. I submitted documents to all responsible persons telling them that between 2012 and 2023 he was not in jail. The government documents, which I have got through the state information commission, after a long fight, bear this out," Nidhi Shukla told news agency PTI.
She alleged that Tripathis have misled the authorities to get a premature release. Shukla also said she fears for her and her family's life in case the two are released.
Amarmani, who was elected from Nautanva constituency, had been a minister in the BJP state government in 2001. He was with the Samajwadi Party during the Mulayam government and then switched to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
(With inputs from agencies)
