HC sets aside death penalty to bus driver who killed 9
The Bombay high court on Saturday observed that the convict was not heard by the trial court on the point of sentence, and set aside the death penalty imposed on Santosh Mane, a Pune bus driver, who mowed down nine persons and injured 37 in January last year.
A division bench of Justice P.V. Hardas and P.N. Deshmukh was hearing Mane’s appeal against the death sentence awarded to him by a lower court in Pune. It would be just and proper if Mane was heard on the point of sentence, held the bench and remanded the matter back to the trial court.
Mane’s counsel J.D. Mane pleaded that the trial court had not considered the argument of the convict on the sentence. Public prosecutor Madhavi Mhatre argued that the defence had pleaded before the trial court on this aspect. However, this was not reflected in the court record.
The court also said that Mane be produced before the trial court in Pune on October 15 and ruled that after the judge hears him on the sentence, he would pass an order on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to him.
The trial court had awarded the death sentence to Mane on April 8, this year, stating it was “the rarest of the rare” case, as he had killed people when he was fully aware of the consequences of his act. The court had ruled that he had targetted people with the intention to kill them. Mane was held guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 381 (theft of employer’s property), 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code.
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