‘Immediately free convicts who’ve served full sentence’: Supreme Court's big order in Nitish Katara case

HEaring a plea by yard bird Sukhdev Yadav false name Pehalwan in Nitish Katara bump off caseful, the sublime Court on Tuesday directed all states and Union territories to identify and immediately release any convicts who are still in prison despite having completed their sentence.If any such convict is continuing in prison, then they should be immediately released, if not wanted in any other case, the Supreme Court ordered, according to a LiveLaw report.The order, issued to the home secretaries of all states and UTs, stated that such individuals must be released at once – provided they are not wanted in any other case.A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan issued the directive while ordering the release of Sukhdev Pehalwan, who has served his full sentence, even without considering remission.The Supreme Court further instructed that its order be sent to the Member Secretary of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), who will ensure it is communicated to the respective District Legal Services Authorities across the country.The Supreme Court in June had granted three months furlough to Sukhdev Pehalwan in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and K Vinod Chandran back then had also noted that Yadav has undergone 20 years of uninterrupted incarceration without remission.The top court directed that Yadav be produced before the trial court within seven days and appropriate conditions be imposed on him by the trial court before grant of furlough.Under Furlough, an inmate is granted temporary release from prison, not a suspension or remission of the entire sentence. It is typically granted to long-term inmates who have served a portion of their sentence.Sukhdev Pehalwan's plea had challenged a November 2024 order of the Delhi high court, which dismissed his petition for releasing him on furlough for three weeks.On October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court awarded a 25-year jail term without the benefit of remission to former cabinet minister DP Yadav's son Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav for their role in the 2002 kidnapping and killing of Nitish Katara.Co-convict Sukhdev Yadav was given a 20-year jail term in the case.All of them were convicted and sentenced for kidnapping Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16 and 17, 2002 and then killing him for his alleged affair with Vikas' sister Bharti Yadav.