Update (August 25, 1:00 pm): Supreme Court on Friday has refused to stay the release of former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani, serving a life term in the poet Madhumita Shukla murder case since 2007.Meanwhile, the top court has issued notices on the plea filed by poetess Madhumita Shuklas sister, Nidhi Shukla, against the premature release of the convicts in the formers murder case.The top court began hearing of the plea earlier in the day. However, it did not pass any order against the order directing the convicts release.Following the Uttar Pradesh Prisons Administration departments order directing the release of former minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, who are serving life imprisonment after being convicted in the murder case of poetess Madhumita Shukla, her sister Nidhi Shukla knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court against the decision.“We informed the top court that the convicts, Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani Tripathi, did not serve the sentence. A document that I collected through the RTI (Right to Information) proves the same. It shows that the duo was not in prison from 2012 to 2023”, said Nidhi Shukla while speaking to ANI.Amarmani Tripathi, ex-UP minister to be freed in 2003 poets murder caseFormer Uttar Pradesh minister and gangster-turned-politician Amarmani Tripathi, convicted in the sensational 2003 murder of poet Madhumita Shukla, will be released from jail. Tripathi was then a minister in Mayawatis government was seen as a right hand to the chief of Bahujan Samaj Party.According to the order given by the UP government, the decision to release Tripathi and his wife in connection with the murder case of the poetess has been taken of the basis of good conduct in the jail since 2007.Although, Tripathi, the accused had initially denied all the claims made against his and defended himself saying that he had nothing to do with the gruesome killing.His denials were up-ended, though, after a DNA test by the Central Bureau of Investigation indicated the child Shukla was carrying when she was shot dead was Tripathis.What was Madhumita Shukla murder case all aboutMadhumita Shukla, a poetess, was murdered on May 9, 2003 and her body was found at her home in Nishatganj area of Lucknow. According to the reports, Shukla and Tripathi were alleged lovers.The Supreme Court moved the case from Lucknow to Dehradun because Shuklas family was concerned that Amarmani Tripathi, a four-time MLA at the time with connections to several political parties and a lot of power, may obstruct the legal process.The investigation also revealed that when Shukla passed away, she was expecting a child, and the CBIs forensic investigations established that the babys father was Tripathi.
