Uttarakhand High Court Refuses Interim Relief to Ankita Bhandari Murder Convicts

The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday declined to grant interim relief to two convicts in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, who had challenged their conviction and life sentences before the court.

A division bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Siddharth Sah heard the petitions filed by Pulkit Arya and Saurabh Bhaskar, who sought suspension of sentence and bail. The court refused their request and scheduled the next hearing for July 20.

The convicts argued that Ankita Bhandari had died by suicide and that there were no direct eyewitnesses to the incident. They claimed that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain a murder conviction.

Opposing the plea, the state government and the victim's family submitted that crucial evidence was destroyed after the incident. They alleged that parts of the resort where the crime occurred were demolished, CCTV footage was tampered with, and the DVR was manipulated. Forensic evidence and WhatsApp chats, they argued, linked the convicts to the crime.

The Kotdwar District Court had convicted Arya and Bhaskar on May 30, 2025, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those pertaining to assault, murder, and tampering of evidence. The prosecution examined 47 witnesses during the trial. The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand, was murdered in September 2022. The case had drawn widespread attention due to allegations of a cover-up and demands for justice. The two convicts, along with a third accused, were initially arrested and later tried. The third accused, Ankit Gupta, was also convicted but his appeal is not part of the current hearing.

The High Court's refusal to grant interim relief means that Arya and Bhaskar will remain in custody while their appeals against conviction are pending.