2024-04-22 04:29:41
New Delhi: The mother of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan has approached the Supreme Court opposing the bail granted to the four accused in her murder. Soumya was murdered in 2008. Four convicts in the case are serving life imprisonment. On February 12, Delhi High Court suspended the sentence of Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Singh Malik and Ajay Kumar. He was granted bail pending appeals challenging his conviction and sentence.
Soumya was murdered in September 2008.
Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla and Baljit Singh Malik were also convicted in the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case and are still in jail. Soumya worked in a leading English news channel. He was shot dead in the early hours of September 30, 2008 on Nelson Mandela Marg in South Delhi. This incident happened when she was returning home from office in her car.
Soumya’s mother appealed to the Supreme Court
A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal is likely to hear the petition filed by Soumya’s mother Madhavi Vishwanathan. On January 23, the High Court had asked Delhi Police to respond to the appeals of the four accused. On November 26, 2023, a special court had sentenced Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar to two life sentences under IPC section 302 (murder) and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA).
High Court had given decision on bail
The court had made it clear that both the punishment periods would be imposed in sequential form. At the same time, the fifth convict Ajay Sethi was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment under section 411 of the IPC (receiving stolen property). Ravi Kapoor’s lawyer argued that he has been in custody for the last 14 years and nine months. Requested the court to suspend his sentence pending the appeal. Advocate Amit Kumar, representing Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar, also made a similar request to suspend their sentences. Among the four convicted in the Soumya murder case, Kapoor, Shukla and Malik were also convicted in the murder of IT professional Jigisha Ghosh.