The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Uttarakhand government to a petition demanding premature release of a convict in the 2003 Madhumita Shukla murder case. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on the petition of Rohit Chaturvedi, seeking directions to the competent authority for his premature release. Rohit is the nephew of former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi, who served life imprisonment in this case.
Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, cited the apex court’s earlier decisions passed on January 8 and May 13, 2022 in the Bilkis Bano case, and said the competent authority in this issue will be the Uttarakhand government. . He said that this court held on January 8 that the State where the criminal case was heard will be the competent authority to deal with the premature release of convicts as per the State policy.
Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad said, “Since this case was transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand by order of the court, the competent authority in this case will be the Uttarakhand government.” The court agreed to issue fresh notice to the Uttarakhand government and fixed the next hearing of the case on November 14. Earlier, the UP government had filed a petition demanding withdrawal of the order seeking consideration for Rohit’s premature release.
Let us tell you that poet Madhumita Shukla was shot dead on May 9, 2003 in Paper Mill Colony, Lucknow. She was pregnant at the time. Former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi, with whom Madhumita was reportedly in a relationship, was arrested in September 2003 in connection with her murder. Following this, his wife Madhumani Tripathi, nephew Rohit Chaturvedi and shooter Santosh Kumar Rai were arrested in connection with the conspiracy to murder Shukla.
On 24 October 2007, a trial court in Uttarakhand convicted the four accused for the murder of Madhumita Shukla and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Amarmani Tripathi, elected from Nautanwa constituency, was a minister in the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in 2001 and in the BSP government in 2002. He has also been associated with the Samajwadi Party. On June 17, 2003, the investigation of this case was handed over to the CBI. On February 8, 2007, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Uttarakhand.
On July 16, 2012, the Uttarakhand High Court upheld his conviction and sentence. The Supreme Court upheld this order on November 19, 2013. On August 24, 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Prisons Department issued an order for premature release of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, citing the remission policy of the state of 2018 and the fact that they have served 16 years of their sentence.
