New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to extend the interim bail of Vikas Yadav, who is serving a 25-year jail term in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.Yadav’s bail, granted by Supreme Court, ended on Tuesday. He approached the high court after the apex court a day earlier refused to grant him relief and told him to move HC for an extension or grant of fresh interim bail.Justice Ravinder Dudeja dismissed the plea, saying the high court had “no power to grant interim bail or even extend the interim bail” and pointed out that being a convict, Yadav was “only entitled to the grant of parole/furlough”. The judge said his lawyer “failed to show any provision under BNSS/CrPC, which empowers this court to grant bail/interim bail”.On Supreme Court granting Yadav interim bail last week, the high court highlighted that the apex court did so “in exercise of its extraordinary power under Article 142 of Constitution of India, but such power is not available with the high court… The application for extension/grant of interim bail filed on behalf of the petitioner is, therefore, not maintainable and is accordingly dismissed”.Justice Dudeja reiterated that once convicted, Section 430 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (u/s 389 CrPC) empowers a higher court to suspend the sentence and grant bail during the pendency of the appeal, but in Yadav’s case, it was not applicable since his conviction was upheld earlier even by Supreme Court.Seeking an extension of bail, Yadav said he had got married on Sept 5 in Ghaziabad and the couple sought each other’s companionship. The 54-year-old convict, who has spent over 23 years in jail, also sought interim bail to arrange for Rs 54 lakh, the fine imposed on him at the time of sentencing. Yadav said the money would be generated through the sale of his immovable properties in Badayun and Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. But, for that, he also requires an Aadhaar card, an essential prerequisite for executing sale deeds and completing the required legal formalities before the revenue and registration authorities, he argued.Earlier, Supreme Court had extended his interim bail by a week on these grounds after Yadav challenged an Aug 22 order of the high court, which refused to extend his interim bail granted by the top court on July 29.
