SC upholds Vikas Yadav's conviction in Nitish Katara murder case

New Delhi, Aug 17  The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the conviction of Vikas Yadav and Sukhdev Yadav alias Pehlwan in the Nitish Katara murder case but issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the quantum of sentence.

Nitish Katara, son of an Indian Administrative Service officer, was killed by Vikas Yadav, his cousin Vishal Yadav and Pehlwan on the intervening night of February 16 and 17, 2002, after they abducted him from a marriage party in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.

The Yadav brothers were opposed to Katara's friendship with their sister Bharti.

Upholding the conviction of Vikas and Sukhdev, an apex court bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel issued notice on the quantum of sentence, telling their counsel: "We can give you indulgence so far as quantum of sentence is concerned."

Vikas Yadav was given an enhanced 30-year jail term without remission by the Delhi High Court for murdering Katara, including 25 years for murder and another five years for destruction of evidence. 

Sukhdev Yadav too was awarded an enhanced life sentence by the high court and is undergoing 20 years in jail without remission.

Hearing on the notice on enhanced sentence would take place after six weeks.

The high court had held that they "do not deserve to remission of the life sentence imposed on them" and the sentence for murder and destruction of evidence would run consecutively.

The high court on April 2, 2014, upheld the 2008 trial court judgment that sentenced the three to life imprisonment in the "honour killing" case.