Sukhdev Pehalwan, convicted of Nitish Katara murder case, has completed 20 years of his sentence! Now release him from jail-Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said that if a person has been sentenced for a certain period of time, then he should be released as soon as that period ends. He need not apply to the government for remission of sentence like other prisoners. The court was hearing a petition filed by Sukhdev Pehalwan, a convict in the Nitish Katara murder case.
The Supreme Court had ordered the release of Sukhdev Pehalwan on July 30. Now the detailed decision of the court has come. The Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of all prisoners lodged in jails across the country who have completed their life sentences. Sukhdev Pehalwan had said in the petition that he was sentenced to 20 years in this case. The 20-year period ended on March 10, 2025, but he was not released. He applied for release to the Delhi government's Sentence Review Board, but the board refused. Nitish Katara was a close friend of Bharti Yadav, daughter of D P Yadav. Bharti and Nitish were together at a wedding ceremony in Ghaziabad on the night of February 16, 2002. Seeing this, Bharti's brother Vikas got very angry. He along with his cousin Vishal kidnapped Nitish. He was taken about 80 km from Ghaziabad and killed with a hammer. He was accompanied by wrestler Sukhdev. On May 30, 2008, the trial court sentenced Vikas, Vishal and Sukhdev Pehalwan to life imprisonment. On April 2, 2014, the Delhi High Court also upheld this decision. The High Court sentenced Vikas and Vishal to 25-25 years and Sukhdev to 20 years. Neelam Katara filed an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking the death penalty for the convicts, but the Supreme Court did not change the High Court's decision.