NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the premature release of former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, and his wife, sentenced to life imprisonment on being held guilty of the sensational 2003 murder of poet Madhumita Shukla.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the UP government on a plea filed by Nidhi Shukla, sister of the deceased.
The court sought a reply from the state government within eight weeks.
Issuing notice in the matter, the bench said it would not interfere with the release of Tripathi and his wife, Madhumani for now. The court said if it were to agree with the petitioners contention then it could send them back to the prison.
Nidhi, sister of Madhumita Shukla, had filed a plea in the top court against the release of Tripathi and his wife, who have been serving a life term since 2007.
The Uttar Pradesh had earlier said they will be freed on the basis of 'good conduct' in prison.
Madhumita, a 24-year-old fiery poetess and alleged lover of Tripathi was murdered on May 9, 2003 and her body was found at her home in Lucknow's Nishatganj area.
Tripathi, then a minister in Mayawati's government, was seen as the Bahujan Samaj Party boss' right-hand man and had initially claimed he had nothing to do with the cold blooded murder.
However, his defence got discarded after a DNA test conducted by the CBI indicated that the child, the deceased was carrying when she was shot dead, was that of Tripathi.
After Shukla's family feared Tripathi may interfere with the judicial process, and fair trial, the Supreme Court had transferred the case from Lucknow to Dehradun.
The UP government's prisons department also cited age and good behaviour as Amarmani is 66 and Madhumani is 61 for the release.
It also said the order for the release was in terms state's 2018 policy on remission, since they have completed 16 years of imprisonment.
