Katara case: SC grants Yadav one-week furlough to spend Holi with family | India News
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed a plea of Vikas Yadav, convicted in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, to be released from prison on furlough. Yadav is serving 25 years in prison without parole.A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Vipul M Pancholi noted that Yadav has served 23 years in prison and granted him furlough till March 7. “Now the furlough is sought if he wants to spend time during Holi. Without going into the eligibility, we allow the applicant to be released,” said the furlough.D Sc Appellant’s counsel rejected objections to granting the furlough, “You want to hang him? Don’t you?” “What’s the point of listening to you on this? After 23 years, you don’t want to let anything go. We need to let go of things,” Bench said.Justice Sundresh verbally observed that granting such relief can sometimes help in the reformation of the convict. The High Court rejected his plea citing ‘serious offence’On February 11, the Delhi High Court rejected Yadav’s plea seeking release from jail for 21 days. Dismissing his plea, the high court said that Yadav had been convicted of a “serious offence” and was “statutorily ineligible” to be granted furlough under the Delhi Jail Rules, 2018.Yadav challenged the jail authorities’ October 29, 2025, order rejecting his furlough application. The court said there was no arbitrariness, illegality or violation of constitutional rights in the decision of the prison authorities. On October 3, 2016, the SC sentenced Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal to 25 years in prison for abducting Katara, a business executive, from a wedding party on the night between February 16 and 17, 2002 and killing him for his alleged affair with Yadav’s sister. Co-accused Sukhdev Yadav was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
