K’taka cabinet rejects mercy pleas of convicts in 2003 techie murder

The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday rejected the clemency petitions of Shubha Shankaranarayana and D Arun Verma, who are serving life sentences for the December 2003 murder of Shubha’s fiance, software engineer B V Girish, in Bengaluru.

The Cabinet held that the killing was premeditated and exceptionally brutal, and that the pleas could not be accepted under the applicable legal framework.

“It (clemency plea) has been rejected because there is no scope in the law for it. We had taken an opinion from the Law Department before placing the matter before the Cabinet. The recommendation will now be sent to Governor Sudha Yadav for a final decision on the petitions,” home minister Priyank Kharge told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

The petitions followed a July 14, 2025, Supreme Court judgment upholding the life sentences of all four convicts. The court had given them eight weeks to approach the Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution, which empowers Governors to grant pardons, remit sentences or commute punishments in matters within a state’s executive jurisdiction.

The Governor will take the final decision on the petitions.

Girish, 27, worked with Intel in Bengaluru. Shubha, then 20, was studying law at BMS Law College. The two got engaged on December 1, 2003, and were scheduled to marry on April 11, 2004. According to the prosecution, Shubha wanted to pursue her relationship with Verma, a fellow law student, and did not wish to marry Girish.

On December 3, Shubha took Girish out for dinner and later accompanied him to an aircraft viewing point on Airport Ring Road. There, an assailant struck him on the head with a steel rod. Girish was taken to Manipal Hospital, where he died the following morning.

Investigators later arrested Shubha, Verma and two other men, A Venkatesh and Dinesh, also known as Dinakaran.

The Supreme Court examined communications between the accused, including 38 text messages exchanged between Shubha and Verma between 6.37pm and 9.39pm on the evening of the murder. The court considered these records alongside other evidence to establish the conspiracy.

A trial court convicted all four in July 2010 and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Karnataka High Court upheld the sentences later that year. The Supreme Court subsequently examined their appeals and, on July 14, 2025, confirmed the convictions and life sentences.