Madhumita Shukla murder: SC refuses to stay release of ex-UP min Amarmani Tripathi

Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi were undergoing life term for their involvement in the murder of Madhumita Shukla -- a poet who was found shot dead on May 9, 2003

The Supreme Court on Friday refrained from staying the pre-mature release of jailed former state minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, who were undergoing life term at Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district jail for their involvement in the murder of Madhumita Shukla -- a poet who was found shot dead at her Lucknow residence on May 9, 2003.

The state government took note of the incarceration of the Tripathi couple for more than 16 years and their conduct. (HT file photo)

“If we are with you, we will take him back to prison. But the question of liberty has to apply to everyone,” a bench led by justice Aniruddha Bose told the lawyer appearing for Nidhi Shukla – Madhumita’s sister who has approached the top court against the grant of remission to the Tripathi couple.

The bench, which included justice Bela M Trivedi, however, issued notices to the state government and the Tripathi couple, seeking their replies to Nidhi’s petition that sought quashing of the proposal to consider releasing them on remission.

While the petition was filed on August 11 to preempt the UP government from passing any order on premature release, the matter was taken up on Friday, a day after the state government allowed the premature release of Amarmani (66) and his wife Madhumani (61).

The state government took note of the incarceration of the Tripathi couple for more than 16 years and their conduct while allowing their remission pleas.

Arguing for Nidhi, advocate Kamini Jaiswal informed the bench on Friday that the couple’s release order was issued on Thursday night even as the petition against remission them remain pending before this court.

“So, does not your petition turn infructuous?” the bench asked Jaiswal, who responded that she would bring on record the release orders and argue the matter to show how the couple could not have been released in view of the gravity of their crime. The lawyer added that Amarmani has spent around seven years in a hospital instead of jail. “There was a strike in jail because of the special treatment being given to him,” Jaiswal claimed.

To this, the bench said that it will issue notices on the petition for now. “Issue notice, returnable after eight weeks,” stated the court order.

At one point, Jaiswal said that the issue of remission of convicts in the heinous offences has been taken up by the apex court in the Bilkis Bano case too.

Another bench in the top court is currently examining a bundle of petitions against the grant of remission to 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life in 2008 for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members but were released by the Gujarat government pre-maturely in August 2022.

Amarmani was a minister in the Mayawati-led BSP government in the state at that time.

Following the crime, Mayawati expelled Amarmani from the party and referred the case to the CBI, which arrested him, his wife and other accused. The four-time MLA had later switched to the Samajwadi Party.

On a petition by Nidhi, the Supreme Court transferred the trial of the case from UP to Uttarakhand.

In 2007, a CBI court in Uttarakhand convicted Amarmani, Madhumani and two others, including Amarmani’s nephew Rohit Chaturvedi, for hatching a murder conspiracy and killing Madhumita.

Madhumita was found to be seven-months pregnant at the time of her death. Post-mortem report later revealed that the foetus that Madhumita was carrying matched with Amarmani’s DNA.

The politician had initially denied having an affair with the slain poetess.

In July 2012, the Uttarakhand high court upheld the life sentence for the Tripathi couple. The Supreme Court affirmed this order in 2013.

In her petition before the Supreme Court, Nidhi submitted that the present case is a glaring example of mockery of justice.

“A powerful and influential politician, even after being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, has enjoyed a normal life in special barracks in jail or by getting themselves admitted in the hospital not for just 2 or 3 months but year after year amounting to at least 6-7 years in hospitals...but still managed to get advantage of and the process of grant of remission after committing a heinous crime,” it stated.

While agreeing to consider the premature release the Tripathi couple, the plea argued, the UP government has overlooked the 2014 policy of the Union of India as well as the set of guidelines issued to the states and the Union territories by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the grant of special remission to prisoners to commemorate the “75th year of Independence”.

According to the petition, the policy excludes those convicts who are serving life sentence for heinous offences, especially those relating to crime against women, from the purview of consideration even after completion of 14 years of their sentence.