Madhumita Shukla murder case: SC issues notice to Uttarakhand govt on a convict's remission plea

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on a plea seeking the premature release of one of the convicts in the 2003 murder case of poetess Madhumita Shukla.

A bench, headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka, sought the response of the Uttarakhand government on a plea filed by Rohit Chaturvedi seeking direction to a competent authority for considering his remission application.

As per the computerised case status, the matter will be heard next on November 14.

Former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, his wife Madhumani Tripathi, nephew Chaturvedi, and shooter Santosh Rai were convicted by a fast-track court in Dehradun on October 24, 2007, for the murder. The trial was transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand on the top court’s order.

In December last year, the Supreme Court had ordered that the remission plea be sent to the Uttar Pradesh government as the offence had occurred within its territory. "The State of Uttar Pradesh shall examine the question and take a decision in that regard within a further period of eight weeks," it said.

When the UP government failed to comply with the SC judgment, the state's Additional Advocate General (AAG) was ordered to take instructions.

In September this year, AAG Garima Prasad, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, apprised the top court that an application has been filed seeking recall/modification of the December 2023 judgment in view of the decision rendered in the second Bilkis Bano case.

In January this year, the Supreme Court held that the Maharashtra government had the jurisdiction to consider the early release application filed by the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case as they were sentenced by a special court in Mumbai, and the Gujarat government was not the appropriate government. It said that the earlier decision rendered in May 2022 asking the Gujarat government to consider the remission application was obtained by suppressing material aspects and was non-est in the eye of the law.

In a related development, the SC, in August last year, had refused to pass any interim order restraining the early release of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi on a plea filed by Nidhi Shukla, sister of the deceased poetess. It had issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government, the Tripathis, and others and said that it would again send the couple behind bars if the complainant's petition succeeded.

The petition challenged the remission order passed by the Uttar Pradesh government directing the duo's early release, though they were sentenced to life imprisonment in the sensational 2003 murder case.