The Supreme Court on Thursday granted an interim bail till May 8 to Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year jail term in 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, to attend to his ailing mother who is said to be in a serious condition.
A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan also directed that Vikas Yadav’s mother shall be admitted to AIIMS immediately for two days for the examination of her health condition by a board of doctors to be constituted for this purpose.
The bench said that the medical board shall submit its report to the court by May 7.
It further directed that Yadav shall furnish a bail bond of Rs. one lakh with one surety of like amount and he shall reside only at his Ghaziabad residence.
Vikas Yadav shall remain confined to his residence in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad and he shall be permitted only to visit Yashoda Hospital at Ghaziabad after his mother is shifted to the hospital, the court ordered.
Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year-long jail term in 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, has approached the top court seeking interim bail to attend to his ailing mother who is in a serious condition.
Directing that Yadav shall not make any contact with witnesses who deposed against him and Neelam Katara, the mother of Nitish Katara, the court asked the Uttarakhand and Delhi police to provide security to the witnesses and Neelam Katara.
While dictating the order, the bench said that it was considering the case for interim bail to Yadav only in the context of the health condition of his mother.
“For the time being we are considering whether he can be enlarged on bail so that he can meet his mother and ensure that proper treatment is extended to her,” the bench said.
The bench noted that Yadav has completed 23 years of his imprisonment in the case.
Yadav while seeking interim bail had said that his mother is admitted in Yashoda Hospital, Ghaziabad, and due to her serious condition, his assistance and presence is needed.
Yadav’s plea on the denial of remission benefit to him is pending before the top court.
A trial court in May 2008 held Vikas Yadav guilty of kidnapping and murdering Nitish Katara for being in a relationship with his sister Bharti Yadav.
On October 3, 2016, the top court gave a 25-year jail term without any remission to Vikas Yadav, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav, and his cousin Vishal Yadav for their role in the kidnapping and killing of business executive Katara.
They kidnapped Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002, and then killed him for his alleged affair with Vikas’ sister Bharti Yadav.