SC upholds Belthangady court order: 3-month imprisonment, Rs 4.5 lakh fine for Somanath Nayak
Belthangady: The apex court has upheld the Belthangady civil court judgment imposing three-month imprisonment and also a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh on Somanath Nayak, president of the Nagarika Seva Trust, Guruvayanakere, here.
Nayak is reported to have been charged with defamation of dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala D Veerendra Heggade and also disobeying an order of temporary injunction to not publish any statement that would harm the reputation of the dharmadhikari.
Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh said in their order on October 19, “Having gone through the impugned judgment and order passed by the Karnataka High Court and the learned trial court, we see no reason to interfere with the same in exercise of powers under Article 136 of the Constitution of India.”
They also said that the earlier injunction had been violated repeatedly by the petitioner, said sources. The Belthangady court had rightly judged Nayak guilty for violation of the injunction, said the apex court judges, citing the application under Order 39 Rule 2A of Civil Procedure Code. “The Special Leave Petition stands dismissed,” the bench added.
Heggade had filed an original suit before the Additional Civil Judge and JMFC, Belthangady. He had also secured a temporary injunction order in November 2013 against Nayak and five other people to hold them from making or publishing any statement that would impact the reputation of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala and Heggade himself.
Since Nayak continued to publish statements against Heggade, the dharmadhikari is learned to have filed an interim application against Nayak for violation of the injuction. The Belthangady civil court had sentenced Nayak to three months of imprisonment along with payment of a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh.
While Nayak appealed against the order, his application was turned down by the senior civil judge and the JMFC, Belthangady, in March 2022 and the Karnataka High Court in May 2022.
Nayak had then filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court, which, however, has now also dismissed his petition.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
