New Delhi, April 23 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday raised concerns over the continued custody of Sukhdev Pehelwan, a convict in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case, who has already served 20 years of his life sentence.

The bench, headed by justice Abhay S Oka, allowed Sukhdev to file an amended plea seeking his release, noting that his fixed term of 20 years had been completed.

The court took issue with a technical objection raised by the Delhi government. The state had argued that Sukhdev's petition should only be considered for release on furlough, not for the release based on the ground that he has completed his fixed term sentence of 20 years.

Justice Oka objected to such an approach by the state. The bench, also comprising justice...