Vikas Yadav's conduct manifests confidence that he is above law: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The conduct of Vikas Yadav, the prime accused in the Nitish Katara murder case, “manifests a confidence that he is above law, that even the long arms of law cannot touch him,” Delhi High Court observed on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_2084333” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nitish Katara was murdered on the intervening night of 16-17 February, 2002.[/caption] The remark was made to highlight that Vikas Yadav killed his sister’s lover while he was out on bail in the sensational Jessica Lal murder case. A bench of Justices Gita Mittal and JR Midha also made mention of the similarities and coincidence arising out between two cases like large number of witnesses turning hostile, challenge to identification on identical grounds, objection to the make of the vehicle and the nature of the expert witness evidence (ballistic expert in Jessica Lal’s case and the medical expert in the present case). The bench said though he was not convicted for murder of Jessica Lal but his act of taking away the vehicle involved in that crime “reflects complete lack of respect for authority and the law” on his part. It said his conduct “manifests a confidence that he is above law, that even the long arms of law cannot touch him.” The bench noted, “it is perhaps a sheer coincidence that in both cases, a black Tata Safari was involved and that the city of Karnal, Haryana, has prominently figured.” In both the cases, the vehicle used after the crime was recovered from Karnal. The bench said the high court had held Vikas Yadav guilty of criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence in the Jessica Lal murder case for removing the Tata Safari car of main convict Manu Sharma who had shot Lal in a cafe in April, 1999. “Vikas Yadav with Manu Sharma and others had come to the Cafe in the Tata Safari and was present at the time of the incident (Lal’s murder). The car was abandoned by Sharma at the time of his escape which was subsequently removed from outside the Cafe pursuant to a conspiracy between Vikas Yadav, Manu Sharma and one other,” the court said. Vikas Yadav was sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment for the offences and was out on bail when he committed the murder of Nitish Katara on the intervening night of 16-17 February, 2002. PTI