Journalist Soumya Vishwanathan Murder Case: DHC Asks Police To Respond To Convicts Appeals Challenging Conviction, Sentence

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday has asked the city police to respond to appeals filed by the 4 convicts handed down to life imprisonment in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case challenging their conviction and sentence.

A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain issued notice to the police on the appeals by Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Singh Malik and Ajay Kumar.

Vishwanathan, who worked with a leading English news channel, was shot dead in the early hours of September 30, 2008 on Nelson Mandela Marg in South Delhi while she was returning home from work in her car.

The court stated, “Appeal admitted. Trial court record be requisitioned.”

Furthermore, the court also asked the authorities to file a reply to the interim application moved by the convicts for suspension of their sentence.

The bench, asked the jail authorities to submit the nominal roll on their conduct in prison, listed the interim application for hearing on February 12.

On November 26, 2023, a special court awarded 2 life terms to Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and section 3(1)(i) (committing organised crime resulting in the death of any person) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. The court made it clear that the sentences will run “consecutively”.

The 5th convict, Ajay Sethi, was handed down 3 years of simple imprisonment under section 411 of the IPC.

However, it set off the 3 years of sentence against the time Sethi had already served, noting that he remained in the custody for more than 14 years and underwent incarceration during the trial for offences under the IPC & MCOCA for conspiring to abet, aid, or knowingly facilitate organised crime and receiving proceeds of organised crime.

During the brief hearing in the high court today, advocate Dimple, representing Kapoor, submitted he has been in custody for the last 14 years and 9 months, and urged the court to suspend his sentence during the pendency of the appeal.

A similar prayer for suspension of sentence was also made by advocate Amit Kumar, who represented Shukla, Malik and Ajay Kumar.

While sentencing Kapoor, Shukla, Malik and Kumar to double life imprisonment, the trial court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on each of them. It imposed a fine of Rs 7.25 lakh on Sethi.

The high court denied parole to Kapoor considering the gravity of the offences committed by him.

Out of the 4 convicts, Kapoor, Shukla and Malik were also convicted of killing IT professional Jigisha Ghosh. Later, the trio confessed to police they were also behind Vishwanathan’s murder, and the weapon used for killing her was recovered from their possession.

The Delhi Police stated that the motive behind Vishwanathan’s killing was robbery.

The trial court awarded death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and sentenced Malik to life imprisonment in the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case. However, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the high court. The high court upheld Malik’s life sentence.

As per the prosecution, Kapoor shot Vishwanathan with a country-made pistol while chasing her car to rob her. Shukla, Kumar and Malik were also with Kapoor. Police recovered the car used in the murder from Sethi alias Chacha.