The Karnataka Cabinet has rejected the clemency petitions of Shubha Shankaranarayana and D Arun Verma, who are serving life sentences for the December 2003 murder of software engineer B V Girish in Bengaluru.
The Cabinet concluded that the killing was premeditated and exceptionally brutal, and that the petitions could not be accepted under the applicable legal framework.
Home Minister Priyank Kharge told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the Law Department had been consulted before the petitions were considered. The Cabinet’s recommendation will now be forwarded to Governor Sudha Yadav, who will take the final decision on the pleas.
The petitions were filed following a Supreme Court judgment on July 14, 2025, which upheld the life sentences of all four convicts in the case. The court had allowed 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 falling within a state’s executive jurisdiction.
Girish, 27, was employed with Intel in Bengaluru, while Shubha was a law student at BMS Law College. The couple got engaged on December 1, 2003, and were scheduled to marry on April 11, 2004.
According to the prosecution, Shubha wanted to continue her relationship with Verma, a fellow law student, and did not wish to marry Girish.
On December 3, 2003, Shubha took Girish out for dinner before accompanying 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 subsequently arrested Shubha, Verma and two other accused, A Venkatesh and Dinesh, also known as Dinakaran.
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court examined evidence including 38 text messages exchanged between Shubha and Verma between 6.37 pm and 9.39 pm on the evening of the murder. The court considered the communications alongside other evidence in establishing the conspiracy.
A trial court convicted all four accused in July 2010 and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Karnataka High Court upheld the sentences later that year. The Supreme Court subsequently confirmed their convictions and life sentences in its July 14, 2025, judgment.
The Governor’s decision will determine the outcome of the clemency petitions.
