The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the Haryana government’s decision rejecting premature release for Sonia Poonia, the prime convict in the 2001 Uklana family murder case, calling the State’s order “patently perverse, illegal and unsustainable in the eyes of law.” The court has ordered a fresh review of her case under the State’s 2002 premature release policy within two months and granted her interim bail in the meantime.

The killings took place in August 2001, when Sonia was accused of planning the murders of eight members of her family, including her father, former MLA Relu Ram Punia, her stepmother, siblings, sister-in-law and three minor children at their home in Uklana, Hisar. The prosecution alleged that property disputes and concerns over her son’s future drove the cri

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