Madhavi Viswanathan challenges bail for four convicts in journalist Soumya Viswanathan’s 2008 murder case before the Supreme Court. The convicts’ sentences were suspended by the Delhi High Court pending the outcome of their appeals.
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NEW DELHI: Recently, The Supreme Court has received a petition filed by Madhavi Viswanathan, the mother of TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan, challenging the bail granted to four convicts who were serving life imprisonment for her daughter’s murder in 2008.
The convicts, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Singh Malik, and Ajay Kumar, had their sentences suspended by the Delhi High Court on February 12, pending the outcome of their appeals against their conviction and sentence.
Soumya Viswanathan, a skilled journalist employed at a prominent English news channel, met a tragic end in the early hours of September 30, 2008. She was fatally shot while commuting home from work in her car on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi.
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The petition filed by Madhavi Viswanathan will be heard by a bench comprising of justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal at the apex court. The mother seeks to challenge the bail granted to the convicts, expressing concerns about the potential implications and repercussions of their release.
The Delhi High Court, while granting bail to the convicts, took into account the fact that they had already spent 14 years in custody. Recognizing this, the court decided to suspend their sentences and allowed them to seek bail until the final verdict on their appeals. The court had also directed the Delhi Police to respond to the appeals filed by the four convicts.
Earlier, a special court had handed down two life terms to Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3(1)(i) (committing organized crime resulting in the death of any person) of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA). The court emphasized that the sentences would run consecutively, indicating the severity of the crime committed.
The fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC. However, the court took into consideration the time Sethi had already served during the trial, which amounted to more than 14 years. As a result, the three-year sentence was set off against the time he had spent in custody.
During the proceedings, Kapoor’s counsel highlighted that his client had been in custody for nearly 15 years, and thus, requested the court to suspend his sentence pending the outcome of the appeal. A similar request was made by advocate Amit Kumar, representing Shukla, Malik, and Ajay Kumar.
It is worth noting that the trial court, while pronouncing the double life imprisonment sentences for Kapoor, Shukla, Malik, and Kumar, also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on each of them. Additionally, a fine of Rs 7.25 lakh was imposed on Ajay Sethi.
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The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Madhavi Viswanathan’s petition emphasizes the importance of this case and the necessity for a comprehensive review of the bail granted to the convicts.
