Shakereh murder case: SC refuses to entertain plea of Swamy Shraddananda

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by Swamy Shraddananda, who is undergoing imprisonment for killing his wife, seeking a review of the verdict which directed that he should remain in prison for life.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi asked the petitioner to approach the Karnataka government for his grievances.

Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for the petitioner, then withdrew the plea and matter was dismissed as withdrawn.

Shraddananda, 84, alias Murali Manohar Mishra, whose wife was the grand-daughter of a former dewan of the princely state of Mysore, had sought a review of the July 2008 verdict of a three-judge bench of the apex court.

The apex court had last year refused to entertain a plea filed by Shraddananda seeking a review of the verdict, which directed he should remain in prison for the rest of his life.

On September 11 last year, the apex court had dismissed a separate writ petition filed by Shraddananda seeking release from jail.

He had sought the relief contending that he was in ''continuous incarceration'' without any parole or remission and nothing adverse was reported against him during his stay in jail.

Shraddananda said he filed a mercy petition before the President in December 2023, which was pending for consideration.

Shakereh, the wife of Shraddananda, was the granddaughter of Sir Mirza Ismail, a former dewan of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore.

Shraddananda and Shakereh married in April 1986 and she suddenly disappeared in May 1991, the apex court had noted in its July 2008 verdict.

It had also noted in March 1994, the Central Crime Branch, Bengaluru, took over the investigation of the complaint about ''missing'' Shakereh and under intense interrogation, Shraddananda broke down and owned up to having killed her.

Her body was exhumed and Shraddananda was arrested in the case.

A trial court had in 2005 convicted Shraddananda and sentenced him to death. In September 2005, the Karnataka High Court had confirmed the conviction and the death sentence awarded to him.

Shraddananda's appeal against the high court order came up before a two-judge bench of the apex court, which unanimously upheld his conviction but differed on his sentence.

While one of the judges said he should not be released from prison till the end of his life, the other judge said he deserved nothing but death.

The matter then came up before a three-judge bench which delivered its verdict on July 22, 2008.

''We accordingly substitute the death sentence given to the appellant by the trial court and confirmed by the high court by imprisonment for life and direct that he shall not be released from prison till the rest of his life,'' the bench had said.

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