NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has refused to stay the premature release of former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi (66) and his wife, who have been serving life sentences in Gorakhpur, in the sensational Madhumita Shukla murder case.

Shukla, a Hindi poet, was found dead at her apartment in Lucknow in 2003.

However, a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi on Friday sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government, former Samajwadi Party leader Tripathi and his wife Madhumani (61) seeking their responses within eight weeks on a petition filed by the victim’s sister Nidhi Shukla.

On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh prisons department issued an order for the premature release of both convicts under the 2018 remission policy which provides for pre-mature release of a convict has served 16 years in prison.

The Tripathis have completed 16 years of their sentence. UP officials have cited their old age and good conduct and behavior.

Poet Madhumita Shukla was pregnant with Tripathi’s child at the time of her murder in Paper Mill Colony in the state capital on May 9, 2003. His romantic relationship with Shukla was proved in forensics examinations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Tripathi had been arrested in September 2003 for the murder of her alleged poet beau. During the course of trial, the Supreme Court had shifted the case from Lucknow High Court to Dehradun to Tripathi’s influence and presence, as Shukla’s family feared him manipulating the judicial system.

The convict and his wife were later given a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder in October 2007. Later the Nainital High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the couple.

In an interview in 2007, victim’s sister Nidhi emphasised her fear of Tripathi, saying, “He is not an ordinary person. That is all I can say.”

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