Delhi HC directs authorities to decide Ravi Kapoor's parole application in Jigisha murder case

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has directed state authorities to make a decision within 10 days regarding the parole application of Ravi Kapoor, who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.

Kapoor had filed a petition in the high court seeking three months’ parole to attend his niece’s wedding in March and to maintain social ties with his parents and other family members. His plea mentioned that he had applied for parole on January 29, but no decision had been made yet by the authorities.

Justice Vikas Mahajan disposed of Kapoor’s plea after the state’s counsel cited the relevant provision of the Delhi Prisons Rules, stating that an application for parole should be decided within four weeks, which had not yet elapsed. The counsel assured that the parole application would be disposed of within 10 days.

The high court directed the authorities to decide on the parole application within the specified time frame and disposed of the writ petition.

Kapoor, who was convicted for the murders of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan and Jigisha Ghosh, was recently granted bail by the high court in Vishwanathan’s case pending his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence.

Earlier in January, the high court had denied Kapoor’s parole application considering the seriousness of the offences committed by him. It took into account his conduct in jail, noting that he had received 41 major punishments, which were deemed unsatisfactory.

Kapoor had initially been sentenced to death by a trial court in 2016 for Jigisha Ghosh’s murder, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court. He was also convicted in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case of 2008, with the trial court sentencing him to life imprisonment in 2023.

Jigisha Ghosh, 28, was kidnapped and killed in March 2009, while Soumya Vishwanathan, a journalist, was shot dead in September 2008. The recovery of the weapon used in Jigisha’s killing had led to the resolution of the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case, with police attributing robbery as the motive behind both killings.

–IANS

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