Katara murder: HC dismisses Vikas Yadav’s parole plea

Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed Vikas Yadav’s plea seeking three weeks “custody parole” to file appeal in Supreme Court against his conviction and sentence of 30 years without remission in the Nitish Katara murder case.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini dismissed the appeal of Vikas, who had sought further three weeks after he was granted one week parole by a single judge bench of the high court.

“In the facts and circumstances of the case we do not find any error requiring interference in the discretion exercised by the single judge in refusing the three months parole sought and in granting only one week of custody parole,” it said. The Bench, also comprising Justice R S Endlaw, observed that grant of parole is essentially a discretionary act though the discretion is to be guided by a number of facts.

“The settled principle of law is that in exercise of letters patent jurisdiction, the division Bench would interfere with the discretion exercised by the single judge only if it is perverse and not to substitute its own view over that of the single judge,” it said.

The court also said the single judge had given well founded reasons for granting one week’s custody parole to Vikas and it was free from “perversity or illegality”. 

On April 20, the high court had reserved its order on Vikas’ plea seeking three weeks of parole for the preparation and filing of a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the conviction and sentence awarded by the high court.