Date:15/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/15/stories/2006031515320500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kidnap: appeal to set aside sentence rejected

Staff Reporter

High courtround-up

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday refused to set aside or suspend the sentence passed by a lower court on a kidnapper.

A lower court in Bangalore had found Ravi, alias Ravi Kumar, guilty of kidnapping an industrialist, Narayana Bhatta, on October 4, 2000. Ravi and others had kidnapped Mr. Bhatta and initially sought a ransom of Rs. 1 crore. They reduced the ransom to Rs. 50 lakhs.

Mr. Bhatta was rescued and the kidnappers were nabbed near Vemgal in Kolar district. Ravi urged the High Court to set aside the lower court order or suspend the sentence.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Veerabhadraiah and Justice N. Ananda rejected the application by Ravi.

Reversed

A Division Bench, comprising Justice Chidananda Ullal and Justice V. Jagannathan, reversed the verdict of a lower court and sentenced a resident of Bangalore to life imprisonment for murdering his wife. It also imposed in the accused a fine of Rs. 15,000. According to the prosecution, in an incident on February 20, 1995, Shivshankar of Manjunath Nagar poured kerosene on his wife, Nagaratnamma, as he suspected she was unfaithful to him. On June 4, 1999, a lower court acquitted Shivshankar, and the Magadi Road police filed an appeal in the High Court.