The Supreme Court orders the temporary release of Vikas Yadav from Feb 28 to March 7, allowing him to spend Holi with family after 23 years in prison. (File Photo)The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of Nitish Katara murder case convict Vikas Yadav on furlough after he requested temporary release to spend time with his family on Holi.A bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Vipul M Pancholi permitted the grant of furlough from February 28 to March 7. The court asked him to report back to the concerned prison authorities at or before 5 pm on March 7.The order pointed out that it was a case where the petitioner has been under incarceration for 23 years without the grant of remission, pursuant to the judgment rendered by the Delhi High Court, by which he was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, which included ]actual imprisonment for 25 years without remission.The bench made it clear that it had not gone into the merits of the case.The interim order came on an appeal filed by Yadav, challenging the February 11 HC order upholding the decision of the jail authorities to reject his application for furlough.“The petitioner is statutorily ineligible for furlough under the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, as amended in 2020 and, in any event, does not merit discretionary relief in the facts and circumstances of the case,” the HC had said.Appearing for Yadav, senior advocate S Gurukrishna Kumar said Yadav had already undergone more than 23 years of imprisonment and that he was given interim bail even earlier, for his mother’s treatment and for his marriage.“In the earlier round, when interim bail was granted, I got married on September 5. Now, Holi is approaching. I am seeking two to three days of interim furlough,” Kumar said on behalf of Yadav.Story continues below this adHe added that every prisoner is entitled to three furloughs and Yadav had got none so far.Advocate Vrinda Bhandari, appearing for Nitish’s mother Neelam Katara, opposed the request for furlough, saying Yadav was not entiled to any relief as per Delhi Prison Rules.Justice Sundresh then asked, “You want to hang him?”“After 23 years, you don’t want to let things go… We need to let things go. Our biggest problem in life is, we don’t let things gone,” he added.Recalling his tenure in the Madras High Court, the judge observed that giving such reliefs can sometimes help reform the prisoner.Story continues below this adHe said that he had then granted furlough to convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment in a bomb blast case. “After the furlough period ended and they returned to prison, their behaviour had changed. Over time, they developed a sense of remorse,” he added.Vikas Yadav, son of former MP D P Yadav, his cousin Vishal Yadav and their aide Sukhdev Pehalwan were convicted for the 2002 abduction and murder of Nitish, a business executive. They were upset over Nitish’s relation with Vikas’ sister Bharti.