Nitish Katara murder: Supreme Court grants convict interim bail till May 8 to meet ailing mother

Imposing conditions, the top court directed the convict to remain confined to his house in Ghaziabad and not get in touch with the case's witnesses, including Katara's mother Neelam Katara.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim bail till May 8 to Vikas Yadav, serving a 25-year-long jail term in 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, in order to attend to his ailing mother.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed that his mother should be admitted to AIIMS immediately for medical examination by a board of doctors to be constituted to examine her health condition.

While grating interim bail to convict Vikas Yadav till May 8, the apex court directed that he will only meet his ailing mother.

In its order, the court said, "Yadav shall not make any contact with any witness who deposed against him and Neelam Katara, mother of Nitish Katara (the deceased)."

The court asked Yadav to furnish a bail bond of one lakh rupees with one surety of the like amount and he shall reside only at his residence in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.

It asked Uttarakhand and Delhi police to provide security to witnesses and Neelam Katara, keeping in view the fact that Yadav would be on interim bail till May 8.

The bench said medical board shall submit its report on the examination of Yadav’s mother to the court by May 7.

The court clarified that it was releasing Yadav on interim bail only in view of his mother’s health condition. It also recorded in its order that Yadav had completed 23 years of his jail sentence.

A trial court in May 2008 held Vikas Yadav guilty of murdering Nitish Katara for being in a relationship with his sister, Bharti Yadav.

On October 3, 2016, the apex court gave 25 years jail term without any benefit of remission to Vikas Yadav, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav, and his cousin Vishal Yadav for their role in the kidnapping and killing of business executive Katara. Bharti was the daughter of D P Yadav.