The Supreme Court on Friday allowed interim release of Nitish Katara murder case accused Vikas Yadav till March 7 to celebrate Holi.
Yadav, who is the son of former parliamentarian DP Yadav, is serving a prison sentence that requires him to spend 25 years without parole in prison. He has already undergone more than 23 years of judgment and approached the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court rejected his application for three weeks’ leave on February 11.
While the court ordered him to surrender on March 7 by 5pm, it also allowed the complainant – Neelam Katara, to seek greater security from the authorities concerned.
Katara’s lawyer, Vrinda Bhandari, opposed the grant of leave, claiming that the court should first consider his eligibility for such relief. She said the HC order denying leave was passed on February 11 and they deliberately chose to approach the court at the last minute.
Read also: Delhi HC rejects Vikas Yadav’s request for leave in Nitish Katara murder case
“You want to hang him. It is very unfortunate that even after 23 years, you are not allowing him any rest. Don’t get agitated unnecessarily,” Justices M M Sundresh and Vipul M Pancholi said.
Katara was following the murder case of her son who was killed by Vikas and his cousin Vishal along with Sukhdev Pehelwan for having a love affair with Yadav’s sister.
Bhandari told the court that even in the past, Yadav had sought interim bail due to his mother’s illness on April 24 last year and kept extending it until the Supreme Court ordered him to surrender. It further pointed out that he had applied before the Delhi High Court for leave for his marriage and that the complainant had provided evidence proving that he was already married.
The cripple said, “The biggest problem is that you don’t let things go. You keep keeping things in your heart. Every sinner has a future.” Judge Sandrich said.
While the court was inclined to close the petition, senior advocate S Guru Krishna Kumar representing Yadav sought issuance of notice on the matter and keeping it in abeyance. He said the Supreme Court had ruled that Yadav was ineligible for leave, and even the prison authorities had stated that he was not maintaining good behaviour.
Objecting to these observations against him, Kumar said that the prisoner is entitled to three leaves during his tenure and this is only the first leave he is seeking. The authority issued a notice and asked the Delhi and Katara governments to submit responses within four weeks.
Yadav was initially denied leave by the prison authorities on October 29, 2025, a decision he challenged before the SC. He claimed eligibility under Rule 1223 of the Delhi Prison Rules 2018 which states that for a prisoner to be eligible for leave, he must have good behavior in prison for the last three years, must not be a habitual criminal and must be an Indian citizen.
The SC upheld the order denying leave and said: “This court finds no arbitrariness, illegality or violation of constitutional rights in the order dated October 29 or the corrigendum dated December 1, 2025.”
