SC enhances to 25 years jail terms of Nitish Katara killers

New Delhi, Oct 3: The killers of Nitish Katara -- Vikas Yadav, Vishal Yadav and their accomplice Sukhdev Pahalwan -- will undergo enhanced jail term of 25 years as the Supreme Court on Monday held that the courts have the power to impose the punishment of 25 years or even more.

While upholding the 2014 Delhi High Court's sentence of 25 years imposed on Vikas Yadav and two others, the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice C. Nagappan said, "We have powers to impose such special sentences".

The apex court ruled thus in a verdict while examining the question whether courts could impose special sentences which are not provided under the statute.

The Supreme Court in August 2015 upheld the Delhi High Court's conviction of Vikas Yadav, Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pahalwan, and said it would later examine the question of quantum of sentence.

Vikas Yadav, his cousin Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pahalwan were convicted by the trial court in May 2008 and were awarded life imprisonment. However, the Delhi High Court, while upholding the trial court conviction in April 2014, enhanced the sentence to 25 years with no remission.

Vikas Yadav and two others had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court ruling, their conviction and award of special sentence to them.

Nitish Katara was done to death as his relationship with Bharti Yadav was not liked by her brother Vikas Yadav. Bharti and Vikas are children of criminal-turned-politician D.P. Yadav.

IANS