The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that any convict who has completed their prison sentence must be released immediately. The order was passed by a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Vishwanathan, directing Home Secretaries of all states and union territories to ensure compliance.

The ruling came while hearing a plea by Sukhdev Yadav, alias “Pehalwan,” convicted in the 2002 murder of Delhi businessman Nitish Katara. Pehalwan was sentenced in 2016 to a fixed-term life sentence of 20 years without remission. His sentence ended on March 9, 2024, but the Sentence Review Board refused to release him, citing his conduct in jail.

Pehalwan approached the Supreme Court, which ordered his release on July 29. The court clarified that if a convict has been given a fixed-term sentence (such as 20 years), they must be freed automatically once that term ends; no approval from the Sentence Review Board is needed.Such approval is only necessary for convicts serving a full life term, meaning imprisonment for the rest of their natural life.

The Delhi government argued that a 20-year “life term” without remission meant the convict could not seek a reduced sentence for 20 years, but would still serve life in prison. The court rejected this interpretation, saying the sentence ended in March 2024 and there was no reason to keep him jailed.

Pehalwan had earlier been granted three months’ furlough after completing 20 uninterrupted years in jail. Two others in the same case, Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav, are serving 25-year terms without remission. Nitish Katara was murdered in 2002 over his alleged relationship with Bharti Yadav, thesister of Vikas Yadav.