Journalist Soumya Vishwanathan Murder Case: Convicts Move Delhi High Court Against Conviction & Sentence, Notice Issued

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on the pleas moved by all four convicts in the murder case of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan challenging their conviction and sentence of life imprisonment.

A division bench comprising of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain also issued notice on the applications moved by the convicts seeking suspension of their sentence awarded by the trial court in November last year.

The bench also called for the nominal roll of the convicts from jail as well as the trial court record in the case.

Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar were convicted by city's Saket Court on October 15, 2023, more than 15 years after Soumya was killed in 2008. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The trial court had also convicted Ajay Sethi and sentenced him to simple imprisonment for a period of three years.

Out of the four convicts in question, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla and Baljeet Malik were also convicted in the IT professional Jigisha Ghosh murder case.

Later, the trio disclosed to police during cross-examination that they had also shot dead television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, when she was driving home after night shift in office on September 30, 2008.

Recently, a single judge had denied parole to Ravi Kapoor, taking into account his criminal history, the gravity of the offence committed by him and his overall conduct inside the jail premises.

In Vishwanathan's case, the four men have been convicted for the offences under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

They were also found guilty under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) provisions for committing organised crime resulting in the death of any person.

The Delhi Police had claimed that the motive behind the journalist's murder was robbery. As per the Police, her murder case was cracked after the recovery of the weapon used in Jigisha Ghosh's killing.

The trial court had awarded death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and sentenced Malik to a life imprisonment in Jigisha Ghosh murder case in August 2016.

However, in 2018, the Delhi High Court had commuted the death sentence awarded to Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment. Malik's life imprisonment was also upheld by the High Court. 

Title: RAVI KAPOOR v. THE STATE (NCT OF DELHI) and other connected matters