The Supreme Court has sought the Uttarakhand government's response on a plea seeking the premature release of one of the convicts in the 2003 murder case of 26-year-old poet Madhumita Shukla.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on a plea by Rohit Chaturvedi seeking direction to a competent authority for ordering his premature release.

Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government referred to earlier judgements of the apex court passed in the Bilkis Bano case on January 8 and May 13, 2022 and said that the competent authority in this case will be the Uttarakhand government.

She submitted that this court has held on January 8 that the state in which trial of a criminal case has taken place will be the competent authority to deal with premature release of convicts as per state's policy.

"Since the case was transferred to Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh on the orders of this court, in this case the competent authority will be the Uttarakhand government," Prasad submitted.

The bench agreed to issue a fresh notice to the Uttarakhand government and posted the matter for further hearing on November 14.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government moved the top court seeking a recall of an order that has asked it to consider a premature release of Chaturvedi.

The UP government has contended that in view of the second Bilkis Bano judgement of January 8 this year, the state has sought a recall or modification of the December 15, 2023 order passed in the case of Chaturvedi.

On January 8, the top court quashed the Gujarat government's remission granted to 11 convicts in a case involving the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her seven family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.

It had said the Gujarat government was not the appropriate authority to pass the remission order and clarified that the state in which an offender is tried and sentenced is competent to decide a remission plea of the convict.

The convicts in the Bilkis Bano case were tried in Maharashtra.

In the process, the bench had nullified a May 13, 2022 judgement of another apex court bench that had directed the Gujarat government to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts, saying it was obtained by "playing fraud on court".

On May 13, 2022, a bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi (now retired) and Vikram Nath asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea of convict Radheshyam Shah for a premature release in terms of its remission policy of July 9, 1992, holding that the government of the state where the offence had taken place has the jurisdiction to decide the application.

In the present case, on December 15, 2023, a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose (now retired) and Masih, relying on the May 13, 2022 judgment, asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider the remission plea of Chaturvedi, who was tried for murder in a court in Uttarakhand.

"We, accordingly, direct that the remission plea which was filed by the petitioner-convict (Chaturvedi) be sent to the home secretary, state of Uttar Pradesh by the state of Uttarakhand.

This shall be done within a period of three weeks from date.

Thereafter, the state of Uttar Pradesh shall examine the question and take a decision in that regard within a further period of eight weeks," it had directed on December 15, 2023.

The UP government has sought a recall of the order that has asked it to decide the convict's remission plea on the ground that the apex court, in the subsequent judgment in the Bilkis Bano case, has held that the state where the convicts were tried is the requisite authority to decide such a plea for premature release.

Shukla was shot dead on May 9, 2003 in Lucknow's Paper Mill Colony while she was pregnant.

Former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi was arrested in September 2003 in connection with the killing of the poet with whom he was allegedly in a relationship. Subsequently, other accused were also arrested in connection with a conspiracy to kill Shukla.

On October 24, 2007, a trial court in Uttarakhand convicted Amarmani Tripathi, his wife Madhumani Tripathi, nephew Rohit Chaturvedi and associate Santosh Kumar Rai for Shukla's murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Amarmani Tripathi, who was elected from the Nautanwa constituency, was a minister in the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in 2001 and also in the BSP government formed in 2002. He has also been associated with the Samajwadi Party.

On June 17, 2003, the probe was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The trial was shifted from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand by the Supreme Court on February 8, 2007.

On July 16, 2012, the Uttarakhand High Court upheld their conviction and sentence. The order was upheld by the apex court on November 19, 2013.

On August 24, 2023, the Uttar Pradesh prisons department issued an order for a premature release of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, citing the state's 2018 policy on remission and also the fact that they had completed 16 years of their sentences.

Chaturvedi, who was convicted for criminal conspiracy and murder, had applied for a premature release to the Uttarakhand government but his plea was rejected.

Thereafter, citing the first Bilkis Bano case judgement on remission (of May 13, 2022), he sought a direction from the apex court to the Uttar Pradesh government for his premature release.