Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Court to hear Manohar's bail petition on Tuesday

By R. Balaji

VIJAYAWADA, SEPT. 11. After a spate of adjournments, the bail petition of Y. Manohar, the accused in the sensational murder of MCA student R. Srilakshmi will come up for hearing before the Mahila Sessions Court on September 14. Though the petition was moved by defence counsel, David Ratna Kumar, as early as July 30, the hearing had to be adjourned over six times as the prosecution had sought time for filing a counter.

On behalf of the State, the Additional Public Prosecutor, B. Sandhya, filed a four-page counter opposing the bail plea on the grounds that the accused, if given bail, would escape from the law. There was also an apprehension that the accused would intimidate and terrorise the "eye witnesses."

However, Mr. Kumar, who had filed the bail plea despite a directive from the Vijayawada Bar Association not to take up the case, had claimed in his petition that the accused was not in any way involved with the murder. Mr. Kumar had alleged in his petition that Manohar was a "victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy, as he belonged to the Scheduled Caste community."

Interestingly, defence counsel had claimed that Manohar was the only SC student in the class; the rest of his classmates hailed from the upper castes. Moreover, defence counsel had submitted in the petition that there were no actual eyewitnesses to the murder. It was also argued that the accused had a good academic track record; he would not have secured a seat in a professional course like MCA if it had been otherwise.

Father offers surety

The defence lawyer also pleaded that "if granted bail, Manohar would not escape from law and his father, Venkatasubbaiah, who works with a public sector bank at Markapur in Prakasam district, would stand surety for his son."

Ironically, at the time of the incident, Mr. Venkatsubbaiah had disowned his son and refused to move a bail petition on his behalf.

Manohar's cousin, Y. Uma Maheswari, and maternal aunt, C. Varamma, who were held for "providing shelter" to the accused after the alleged murder, are already out on bail.

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