Madhumita Shukla murder: Why Amarmani Tripathi is set to walk out of jail
The UP government has ordered the former minister and his wife’s premature release as per the state’s remission policy
Former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani, who are serving life terms after being convicted of the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla, are set to walk out of jail soon. The state prisons administration department has issued orders for their premature release, citing UP’s 2018 remission policy and a Supreme Court order, which holds that lifers above 60 years of age are eligible for remission if they have completed 16 years of imprisonment.
Amarmani and Madhumani are lodged in Gorakhpur jail. In the order, access by INDIA TODAY, authorities have mentioned that both have served over 20 years of jail time while displaying ‘good behaviour’ and maintaining ‘peace’.
Madhumita Shukla was shot dead on May 9, 2003 in Lucknow’s Paper Mill Colony. She was 24 years old and seven months pregnant. Amarmani and his wife were convicted of hatching the conspiracy and murder of Shukla. They were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Dehradun court in 2007. It was alleged during investigation that Amarmani had an affair with Shukla.
The order for premature release of Amarmani and Madhumani has prompted Shukla’s sister Nidhi to write to president Droupadi Murmu and UP governor Anandiben Patel, protesting the move. She has also filed a case in the Supreme Court against the premature release.
Amarmani, a gangster-turned-politician and four-term MLA, was last minster in the Mayawati government in 2002-03. He also served as a minister in the BJP governments led by Kalyan Singh (1997), Ram Prakash Gupta (1999) and Rajnath Singh (2000). Amarmani started his political career in eastern UP with the Communist Party of India and later joined Congress. He was associated with the Samajwadi Party at the time of his arrest.
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