Karnataka cabinet rejects Shubha and Arun’s mercy pleas in Ring Road murder case

In July 2010, the trial court convicted all four accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment for murder and criminal conspiracy. The Karnataka High Court upheld their convictions and sentences. | Photo credit: File photo

The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday rejected the mercy petitions filed by convict Shubha Shankarnarayan and co-convict Arun Verma, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2003 Bengaluru Ring Road murder case. Four days after their engagement, she and other accomplices were convicted of murdering her fiancé.

Law student

Shubha, then a law student, was engaged to 27-year-old software engineer BV Girish. Her accomplice had him brutally assaulted on the Ring Road on December 2, 2003, four days after their engagement, with a vehicle shock absorber. Girish succumbed to his injuries in hospital the next day. The case came to be known as the “Ring Road Murder Case”.

While she tried to make the episode look like an assault incident, investigators discovered that the engagement was forced and that she was in a relationship with Arun Varma, her junior in law school. She conspired with Arun and two others to assassinate Girish.

On the night of 2 December 2003, Girish took Shubha to dinner. On her request, he later went to a place near the HAL airport in Bengaluru to watch planes take off and land. While there, he was attacked.

In July 2010, the trial court convicted all four accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment for murder and criminal conspiracy. The Karnataka High Court upheld their convictions and sentences.

SC confirms sentence

In July 2025, the Supreme Court, while upholding her life sentence, granted her time to file a pardon petition with the governor. Accordingly, both Shubha and Arun submitted mercy petitions to the governor, who forwarded them to the state cabinet for a decision. The cabinet rejected the petition after verification.

Published – 15 Oct 2026 19:25 IST