Karnataka Guv writes to CM, Speaker to revoke suspension of 18 BJP MLAs from Assembly
Bengaluru, Apr 29 (PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Speaker U T Khader, to positively consider the request to revoke the suspension of 18 BJP members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), and to take necessary steps in this regard.
In separate letters addressed to the Chief Minister and the Speaker, the Governor expressed his "desire" that they take such a decision in order to uphold the basic tenets of democratic values in the State and to enable the suspended MLAs to resume their responsibilities as representatives of the people.
A BJP delegation, led by state party president B Y Vijayendra and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, had met the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Monday and submitted a memorandum seeking revocation of the suspensions. They termed the move “undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
They urged the Governor to direct the Speaker to reconsider the suspension and allow the MLAs to fulfill their duties as elected representatives.
In an unprecedented move on March 21, 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for six months for showing “indiscipline” and “disrespecting” the Speaker.
They were forcefully evicted from the Assembly by marshals after refusing to leave.
The Governor, citing the memorandum submitted by the BJP legislative party leaders from both the Assembly and the Council, stated in his letter that they had requested him to forward their representation to the Speaker and the state government to reconsider the suspension order imposed on the 18 MLAs, who belong to the principal opposition party.
"In view of the above, to uphold the basic tenets of democratic values in the State of Karnataka and to enable the suspended Members to resume their responsibilities as people’s representatives, I desire that their request be considered positively, and necessary steps be taken to revoke the suspension," the Governor’s letter dated April 28 stated.
"Further, details of the action taken may be brought to my notice," Gehlot added.
The incident leading to the suspension occurred on the last day of the Assembly’s budget session, when BJP MLAs staged a massive protest. They were opposing the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts and demanding a judicial probe into an alleged “honey-trap” attempt involving Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna.
During the protest inside the Assembly, some BJP legislators climbed onto the Speaker’s podium and surrounded his chair, while others hurled papers from the well of the House. Marshals had to intervene and forcibly evict the legislators.
The suspended MLAs include BJP chief whip Doddanagouda Patil, former Deputy CM C N Ashwath Narayan, S R Vishwanath, B A Basavaraju, M R Patil, Channabasappa, B Suresh Gowda, Umanath Kotyan, Sharanu Salagar, Dr Shailendra Beldale, C K Ramamurthy, Yashpal Suvarna, B P Harish, Bharath Shetty, Dheeraj Muniraju, Chandru Lamani, Muniratna, and Basavaraj Mattimud.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
High courts upheld only 8 per cent of death sentences; SC confirms none in recent years: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Highlighting that a high acquittal rate of death row convicts by the Supreme Court and high courts demonstrates a pattern of "erroneous or unjustified convictions", a study of 10 years of death penalty data has revealed that the top court did not confirm any death sentences in recent years.
The study by Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, found that an overwhelming majority of death sentences imposed by trial courts did not withstand scrutiny at higher judicial levels. Acquittals far outnumbered confirmations at both the high courts and Supreme Court levels.
According to the report, the trial courts across India awarded 1,310 death sentences in 822 cases between 2016 and 2025. High courts considered 842 of these sentences in confirmation proceedings but upheld only 70 or 8.31 per cent.
In contrast, 258 death sentences (30.64 per cent) resulted in acquittals. The study noted that the acquittal rate at the high court level was nearly four times the confirmation rate.
Data showed that of the 70 death sentences confirmed by high courts, the Supreme Court decided 38 and did not uphold a single one. The apex court has confirmed no death sentences between 2023 and 2025.
"Wrongful or erroneous or unjustified convictions, then, are not random or freak accidents in the Indian criminal justice system. The data indicates they are a persistent and serious systemic concern," the report said.
Over the last decade, high courts adjudicated 1,085 death sentences in 647 cases, confirming only 106 (9.77 per cent). During this period, 326 persons in 191 cases, were acquitted.
The report attributed low confirmation rates to the appellate judiciary’s concerns regarding failures in due process. "This coincides with increased Supreme Court scrutiny of safeguards at the sentencing stage," the report said.
Of the 153 death sentences decided by the apex court over the last decade, the accused were acquitted in 38 cases. In 2025 alone, high courts overturned death sentences into acquittals in 22 out of 85 cases (over 25 per cent). The same year, Supreme Court acquitted accused persons in more than half of the death penalty cases it decided (10 out of 19), the report said.
The study highlighted that 364 persons who were ultimately acquitted "should not even have been convicted and unjustifiably suffered the trauma of death row". It added that such failures extend beyond adjudication and reflect serious lapses in investigation and prosecution.
The question of remedies for wrongful convictions remains pending before the Supreme Court. In September 2025, three persons acquitted by the apex court filed writ petitions seeking compensation from the state and argued that their wrongful convictions violated their fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
"In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh , and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence," the report read.
In 2025, the apex court held in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India that death penalty sentencing hearings form part of the right to a fair trial and stressed that capital punishment can be imposed only after a constitutionally compliant sentencing process.
"However, even at the high courts whether the process mandated under Manoj is being complied with is in doubt,” the report said.
