Allahabad HC Denies Bail to Karwariya Brothers in Jawahar Yadav Murder Case

PRAYAGRAJ: Nearly three decades after the sensational killing of Samajwadi Party MLA Jawahar Yadav alias Jawahar Pandit, the case has returned to the spotlight with the Allahabad High Court refusing to grant bail to three convicts serving life sentences.

The court rejected the second bail applications of former MP Kapil Muni Karwariya, former MLC Surya Bhan Karwariya and Ramchandra Tripathi alias Kallu.

The bench took into account not only the seriousness of the 1996 murder but also the manner in which the convicts’ appeals had progressed before the court.

A division bench of Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal passed the order on the criminal appeals filed by the three convicts.

Why did the High Court refuse bail?

The convicts argued that they had already spent a considerable period behind bars and that their appeals had remained pending for more than two years. They sought bail based on prolonged incarceration.

The High Court, however, found that this argument could not be considered in isolation.

According to the court, the defence had repeatedly been allowed to argue the main appeals on their merits since the earlier bail pleas were rejected in May 2023.

Instead of moving the appeals towards final hearing, the defence sought adjournments on several occasions and continued to pursue short-term bail relief, the court observed.

The bench held that the seriousness of the offence, coupled with the conduct of the appellants in delaying the final hearing, weakened their claim for bail merely because they had remained incarcerated for a long period.

Jawahar Yadav was killed in broad daylight.

The murder that triggered the long-running criminal proceedings took place on August 13, 1996, in Prayagraj’s Civil Lines area.

Jawahar Yadav, popularly known as Jawahar Pandit, was shot dead in broad daylight. An AK-47 assault rifle was used in the attack, making the killing one of the most high-profile political murders in Prayagraj at the time.

The trial eventually ended with the conviction of the Karwariya brothers and their associates. In 2019, a Prayagraj trial court sentenced them to life imprisonment.

First bail pleas were rejected in 2023

The latest applications were not the convicts’ first attempt to secure release during the pendency of their appeals. Their earlier bail applications had been dismissed by the High Court on May 9, 2023.

The court’s latest order makes it clear that the passage of time in custody cannot automatically become a ground for bail when other relevant circumstances weigh against the applicants.

Former MLA Uday Bhan Karwariya, who is also a convict in the case, did not file a second bail application. His sentence was recently commuted by the Uttar Pradesh government.

For Kapil Muni Karwariya, Surya Bhan Karwariya and Ramchandra Tripathi, the High Court’s latest decision means they will continue to remain in custody while their criminal appeals are pending.

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