Delhi High Court has sought replies from the Centre, Delhi Govt, and others on Vikas Yadav’s plea seeking remission of his 25-year sentence in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case. Yadav also sought interim bail citing his upcoming marriage on September 5.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Delhi government, and others on a petition filed by Vikas Yadav, who was convicted in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.
Yadav has asked the court to grant him statutory remission of his 25-year sentence.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja has directed all the respondents, including Nitish Katara’s mother, Neelam Katara, to submit their replies before the next hearing, which is scheduled for September 2.
Vikas Yadav, 51, has already spent more than 23 years in jail. In his plea, he has also sought interim bail, stating that his marriage has been fixed for September 5. He further told the court that he needs time to arrange the fine of Rs 54 lakh, which was imposed at the time of his sentencing.
His counsel requested the court for an early hearing considering his personal circumstances, but the court kept the matter for September 2.
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, representing Yadav, argued that refusing remission violates his fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
He reminded the court that the Supreme Court, through its order dated July 29, 2025, had dismissed Yadav’s writ petition but gave him the liberty to approach the High Court regarding remission.
The top court had also extended his interim bail till August 26, allowing him to stay out of custody until then.
On the other hand, Neelam Katara, the mother of Nitish Katara, strongly opposed Yadav’s plea. She told the court that the petition is not maintainable and should not be entertained.
She has repeatedly argued in the past that the brutal nature of the crime leaves no scope for any kind of leniency towards the convicts.
The case goes back to 2002, when Nitish Katara, a young business executive, was kidnapped and murdered by Vikas Yadav, the son of former MP D.P. Yadav, along with his cousin Vishal Yadav and others.
In February 2015, the Delhi High Court had modified Yadav’s punishment and awarded him a fixed term of 25 years without remission. This punishment was later upheld by the Supreme Court in October 2016.
Vikas Yadav and the other convicts were found guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In 2022, Yadav moved the Supreme Court claiming that the denial of remission was against his statutory rights under Sections 432, 433, and 433A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
He argued that granting remission is purely an executive function that lies with the state and cannot be taken away by judicial orders. However, the Supreme Court in its July 2025 ruling did not decide on this issue and instead gave him the option to raise the matter before the High Court.
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In his current petition, Yadav has said that the High Court went beyond its powers when it barred remission while awarding him a fixed-term sentence.
He claimed that since he has already served more than 23 years in prison, he is legally entitled to remission. He added that denying remission without following the proper legal process is a violation of his fundamental rights.
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