The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to a woman's brother in a case of killing her husband, in the name of honour, for marrying against the wish of the family.
A bench, presided over by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, set aside the order of the Rajasthan High Court which granted bail to the accused Mukesh Choudhary and directed him to surrender.
"The order passed by the High Court is not sustainable and is accordingly set aside. The bail granted is cancelled. We direct the respondent to surrender before the district judge. Taking into nature of the offence, we allow the appeal," the bench said in its order.
The court also directed for expediting the trial in the case.
A Kerala youth, Amit Nair, was shot dead in 2017 allegedly at the insistence of his in-laws for marrying Mamta, a Jaipur-based woman of another caste
Mamta, the wife of the deceased, had approached the apex court challenging the High Court order of granting bail to her brother, who is accused of conspiring to murder her husband. Her brother was released on bail December last year.
After getting bail, Mamta said her brother Mukesh tried to intimidate her, directly and indirectly through relatives and others.
In 2017, Mamta's parents and two other men are stated to have barged into the couple's home in Rajasthan and shot her husband before attempting to drag her back to her parental house. Mamta was six months pregnant at the time.
After hearing the alarm raised by Mamta and her niece, the neighbours intervened and Mamta could not be taken away, said the plea.
The plot to kill her husband was hatched by her parents and brother along with other co-conspirators hired to carry out the act, Mamta said in her appeal.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising argued for Mamta in the top court that this court had earlier denied bail to Mukesh Choudhary.
Amit had studied civil engineering and started a construction business while Mamta is an LLB and had interned with an NGO.
Mamta had married Amit, who was the friend of her brother Mukesh, against the wishes of her parents in August 2015.
On May 17, 2017, the FIR was lodged by Amit’s mother Rama Devi in Jaipur under sections 452 (house trespass), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.