HC allows Vikas Yadav to attend brother's wedding

NEW DELHI: Following the precedent it set earlier, the Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed Vikas Yadav, jailed for life for murdering Nitish Katara, to attend his younger brother's wedding in custody.
Yadav had last year been granted "custodial parole" to attend his sister Bharati Yadav's marriage. On Tuesday, HC repeated the directions for "custodial parole" so that he can be present at his younger brother's marriage ceremony on April 29.
A division bench of Justices A K Sikri and M L Mehta allowed Vikas to attend the wedding function from 6pm on April 29 till the completion of the ceremony by early hours the following day.
"The wedding is to take place in Delhi. We allow custodial parole and permit the appellant (Vikas) to attend the marriage ceremony of his younger brother Kunal on April 29 under judicial custody from 6pm till the completion of ceremony - early hours of April 30," the bench said after hearing his counsel Sumeet Verma.
The court permitted Vikas to meet whoever he desires in the function during the permissible hours. But it also directed the police to ensure safe and secure surroundings. Directing the police to accompany Vikas in plainclothes throughout the function, the bench said, "While permitting the appellant to move around and meet all those whom he may desire during this period, the officials shall ensure safe and secure surroundings." The bench, however, declined to permit him to attend two other functions organized by his family on May 1 and May 6.
Vikas's plea seeking bail for three months to attend the marriage scheduled for April 29 and other related functions was opposed by the Delhi government.
Earlier, on April 7, the bench had directed the Delhi police to take Vikas under escort from 8pm to 10pm to attend Kunal's engagement ceremony on April 14 held in Hotel Hyatt Regency here.
In May 2008, a city court had sentenced Vikas, 37, and his cousin Vishal, 36, for killing Nitish Katara, son of an IAS officer.
According to the prosecution, Vikas and Vishal had kidnapped Katara from a marriage party in Ghaziabad on the night of February 16, 2002, and killed him as they were against Katara's intimacy with their sister Bharati Yadav.