Nitish Katara murder case: Delhi high court rejects Vikas Yadav’s furlough plea

NEW DELHI: Delhi high court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking furlough by Vikas Yadav, serving a 25-year jail term without remission for the murder of Nitish Katara in 2002.

He had sought 21 days' furlough to maintain social ties and spend time with his wife following his recent marriage. Justice Ravinder Dud-eja said there was no arbitrariness, illegality or violation of constitutional rights in the order passed by the jail authorities rejecting Yadav's request for release.


Yadav, convicted in the 2002 murder case, is serving a fixed 25-year sentence and has undergone over 23 years of actual incarceration.

In his plea, the convict challenged the Oct 29, 2025, decision of the jail authorit-ies denying him furlough on the ground that the rejection was arbitrary and failed to take into account that he earl-ier received interim bail by Supreme Court for over four and a half months on account of his mother's medical treatment, which the apex court later extended on the ground of his marriage.

The plea stated that Yad-av had remained in continuous custody for 23 years without being granted furlough and now sought temporary release to maintain social ties, particularly with his wife. However, the pris-on authorities and the mot-her of the victim, Neelam Katara, opposed the plea, citing the gravity of the offence, the severity of the sentence imposed and the absence of requisite annual conduct reports.

The jail authorities al-so stated that there were concerns that the convict mig-ht flee the country, disturb public order or cause harm to the victim's family.

The high court upheld the decision of the prison authorities, observing that no grounds were made out to interfere with the impugned orders.

Vikas and his cousin, Vishal Yadav, among others, were sentenced to 25 years of actual imprisonment without consideration of remission for the murder.

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