The Supreme Court has sought response from the Uttarakhand government on a petition seeking early release of convicts in the 2003 Madhumita Shukla murder case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on Rohit Chaturvedi’s petition seeking directions from the competent authorities for his early release. Rohit is the nephew of former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.
Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, cited the Bilkis Bano case passed earlier by the Supreme Court on January 8, 2022 and May 13, 2022 The ruling said the competent authority in the case would be the Uttarakhand government. He said this court ruled on January 8 that the country hearing criminal cases would be the competent authority to deal with early release of offenders in accordance with national policy.
Additional Attorney General Garima Prasad said: “Since the case is transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand on the orders of the court, the competent authority in the case will be the Uttarakhand government. “The bench agreed to issue a fresh notice to the Uttarakhand government and fixed the next hearing in the case on November 14. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had filed a petition seeking revocation of the order requiring consideration of Rohit’s early 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 that time. Former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, who was reportedly in a relationship with Madhumita, was arrested in September 2003 on suspicion of murder. Thereafter, his wife Madhumani Tripathi, nephew Rohit Chaturvedi and gunman Santosh Kumar Rai were arrested on suspicion of murdering Shukla.
On October 24, 2007, the Uttarakhand trial court found all four accused guilty of the murder of Madhumita Shukla and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Amarmani Tripathi was elected from Nautanwar constituency and served as a minister in the Uttar Pradesh BJP government in 2001 and in the BSP government in 2002. He is also associated with the Samajwadi Party. On June 17, 2003, the case was handed over to the CBI for investigation. 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 the order on November 19, 2013. On August 24, 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Prison Department issued an order for the early release of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, citing the state’s 2018 sentence reduction policy and the fact that they had served their 16-year sentence.
