The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Life sentence on four persons confirmed

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Friday, Jan 13, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Life sentence on four persons confirmed

Staff Reporter

HIGH COURTROUND-UP Lower court order acquitting man in another case reversed

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court has confirmed life sentence on four persons and reversed the acquittal of another person by a lower court and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

A Division Bench comprising Justice S.R. Bannurmath and Justice A. Ananda on Thursday upheld an order of a lower court sentencing Puttaswamy of Mysore to life imprisonment.

The District and Sessions Court of Mysore had in 2002 found Puttaswamy guilty under Section 302 and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Puttaswamy had murdered Shivu when the latter was sitting on a stone bench reading a newspaper.

In another case, the Bench confirmed the life sentence on Shamir and Harshat, both from Hubli.

According to the prosecution, Shamir had an illicit relationship with Raju Fletcher's wife. When Raju came to know of the affair, he hit his wife who then complained to Shamir.

Shamir enlisted the help of Harshat and on January 28, 2000 murdered Raju.

Both Shamir and Harshat were caught when they transported the body and tried to abandon it in a forest.

The Bench also confirmed the life imprisonment sentence on Krishnappa of Chickballapur who had murdered his wife on August 19, 2000 as he suspected her fidelity.

Fit for trial

A Division Bench comprising Mr. Justice Bannurmath and Justice A.C. Kabbin reversed the order of a lower court and sentenced Ratnappa of Bethmangala to life imprisonment.

Ratnappa had killed Nasima on August 3, 2000, but the lower court had acquitted him, saying that he was of unsound mind. When the matter came up here, the Bench found from a report from the National Institute of Mental Heath and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) that Ratnappa was an epileptic and a psycho. The Bench said Ratnappa was fit to stand trial and reversed the lower court order.

Counter

The State Government, in its affidavit in the High Court, defended the appointment of Rame Gowda as Engineer-in Chief of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and prayed for the petition to be dismissed as it was misconceived.

The State filed its counter after a public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed by K.A. Sumitra Devi and two others against Mr. Gowda's appointment and seeking a writ of quo warranto to oust Mr. Gowda from office (Quo warranto means an order by which a person, who occupies or usurps an independent and substantial public office is asked to show by what right he claims it).

The counter said Mr. Gowda had already assumed charge on December 16, 2005.

It said the BMP itself had recommended to the Government to appoint (as contemplated under Section 20 B of the KMC Act) Mr. Gowda to the post of Engineer-in-Chief on contract for a year.

The Government accorded approval on June 13, 2005, but before Mr. Gowda assumed office, a writ had been filed in the High Court.

Defending his appointment, it said it was in public interest and cited four reasons: It said the recent rain had flooded Bangalore and the BMP was facing a lot of problems and they had to be tackled. Secondly, Mr. Gowda's services were needed to complete the ongoing mega project works.

There was an immediate need to fill the vacant post of Engineer-in-Chief and finally Mr. Gowda had been appointed on contract basis as no other official with equivalent qualifications was available for the post.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice B. Padmaraj, which is hearing the petition, adjourned the case till next week.

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