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Katara case: SC refuses bail to Vikas Yadav

November 27, 2009 20:50 IST

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant bail to Vikas Yadav, who is undergoing life imprisonment, in connection with the Nitish Katara murder case.

However, the Apex court asked the Delhi High Court to expeditiously consider his appeal against the conviction and life imprisonment awarded by the trial court.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices B S Chauhan and K S Radhakrishnan did not accept the contention of Yadav that he has been in jail for over seven years.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yadav, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, submitted that the convict should be granted bail as it would take a lot of time by the high court to decide his appeal.

Vikas along with his cousin Vishal Yadav was held guilty by the trial court for kidnapping and murder of Katara, a business executive by the trial court on May 28, 2008.

They were charged with eliminating Katara as they did not like his intimate relationship with their sister Bharti Yadav.

Katara was kidnapped from a marriage party in Ghaziabad on the intervening night of February 17-18 2002 and two days later his body was found from a distant place. Vikas, who has never succeeded in securing bail from any court, was allowed to attend Bharti's marriage on November 1 in judicial custody.

The high court had refused him bail to attend her marriage and only allowed him to be present at the venue of the wedding from 5 pm till she leaves for her husband's home. Vikas had committed the crime when he was granted bail in the Jessica Lal murder case in which he was subsequently convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment for helping main accused Manu Sharma by destroying evidence.

The Katara murder case was transferred to Delhi for trial on the order of the Supreme Court after victim's mother Neelam Katara had expressed apprehension of getting fair trial in Ghaziabad.