Soumya Vishwanathan murder case: Slain journalist's mother moves SC against bail granted to 4 life convicts

Vishwanathan was fatally shot in the early hours of September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi.

The mother of slain TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan has appealed to the Supreme Court against the bail granted to four convicts serving life imprisonment for her daughter's 2008 murder.

The Delhi High Court, on February 12, suspended the sentences of Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Singh Malik, and Ajay Kumar, granting them bail pending the outcome of their appeals challenging their conviction and sentence.

Vishwanathan, employed with a prominent English news channel, was fatally shot in the early hours of September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi while returning home from work in her car. Soumya's mother, Madhavi Viswanathan, has filed a plea expected to be heard by an apex court bench comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal.

While granting relief to the convicts, the high court had acknowledged that they had been in custody for 14 years. On January 23, it directed the Delhi Police to respond to the appeals filed by the four convicts.

In a ruling dated November 26, 2023, a special court sentenced Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar to two life terms under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3(1)(i) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The court specified that the sentences would be served consecutively.

The fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, received three years of simple imprisonment under section 411 of the IPC for dishonestly receiving stolen property.

The court, however, offset Sethi's three-year sentence against the time he had already served, considering that he had been in custody for more than 14 years. This acknowledgment encompassed his incarceration during the trial for offences under the IPC and MCOCA, related to conspiring to abet, aid, or knowingly facilitate organised crime and receiving proceeds of organised crime.

Kapoor's counsel emphasised that he had been in custody for the last 14 years and nine months, urging the court to suspend his sentence during the appeal process. Similarly, advocate Amit Kumar, representing Shukla, Malik, and Ajay Kumar, made a similar plea for the suspension of their sentences.

The trial court, while sentencing Kapoor, Shukla, Malik, and Kumar to double life imprisonment, also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on each of them. Additionally, Sethi was fined Rs 7.25 lakh.