Telugu actress death: SC upholds jail for paramour, directs him to surrender
New Delhi (PTI): Ruling out strangulation and rape, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the two-year jail term of a man challenging his conviction for abetting the suicide of Telugu actress Pratyusha in 2002, and directed him to surrender within four weeks.
Pratyusha died in Hyderabad on February 24, 2002.
The gist of the case against Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy, according to the remand report, is that he and Pratyusha were in love for six years.
While the relation was acceptable to Pratyusha's mother, Reddy's mother did not agree to the alliance on account of which both of them decided to commit suicide.
On February 23, 2002, both of them went in a car, purchased a pesticide bottle, mixed it in coke and consumed it. However, wisdom prevailed over them and they decided that they should not die.
They drove to Care Hospital in Hyderabad. In spite of the medical care, Pratyusha died while Reddy survived.
A bench comprising justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan also dismissed the plea filed by P Sarojini Devi, Pratyusha's mother, who alleged foul play in the death.
"This court holds that the accused's conduct in entering into and acting upon the suicide pact falls squarely within all the three situations envisaged in Section 107 (Abetment) of the IPC. His participation directly facilitated the deceased's suicide. "Notably, it is not his defence that the deceased was the dominant personality who pressured him into the pact. His culpability therefore stands established," the bench said.
The top court said the allegation of homicidal death by manual strangulation is wholly unsustainable.
"A wealth of ocular and medical evidence points to poisoning. The materials on record, when examined holistically, leave no room for doubt that the deceased died due to consumption of organophosphate poison, specifically Nuvacron...
"Consequently, the convergence of multiple independent expert opinions lends overwhelming credibility to the conclusion that the deceased died of poisoning," the bench said.
The top court also slammed Dr Muni Swamy, who conducted post-mortem of the actress, and said even though there was a doctor on duty on February 25, 2002, he came to the mortuary on his own and did the autopsy.
The bench said it was surprising as Dr Swamy was neither on duty at the mortuary nor on call duty as professor.
"The premature and erroneous opinion of Dr. Muni Swamy unleashed a wave of public controversy. Media reports amplified his conclusions, leading to widespread suspicion of investigators and calls for immediate action against alleged perpetrators.
"This demonstrates how a single erroneous report, when publicised prematurely, can distort public perception and derail the course of justice," the bench said.
In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh High Court reduced the jail sentence of Reddy, who was convicted for her death, to two years from the five years earlier awarded.
The trial court had on February 23, 2004, sentenced Reddy to five years' imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on charges of abetment of suicide. It had also awarded him one more year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for attempting suicide.
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Mamata accuses BJP of trying to 'rig' Bengal polls, alleges central forces acting at its behest
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the West Bengal assembly elections, alleging that central forces and election observers were acting at the behest of the saffron party.
The BJP, however, dismissed her allegations, accusing her of "trying to create confusion sensing public anger against the TMC".
Visiting several polling booths in her Bhabanipur assembly constituency where voting is underway, Banerjee alleged that democratic norms have been severely compromised by the authorities this assembly election.
The Bhabanipur assembly segment is Banerjee's political bastion, where she is locked in a prestige battle against Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, in what is being seen as a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where he had defeated her in the 2021 assembly polls.
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"BJP wants to rig this election," she told reporters.
Stating that elections are held in West Bengal in a peaceful manner, Banerjee asked, "Is there goonda raj here?"
West Bengal has had a tradition of poll-related violence with the Calcutta High Court having ordered CBI investigations into post-poll violence after the 2021 assembly elections.
Alleging that TMC workers and leaders were facing atrocities at the hands of police and CAPF personnel, Banerjee said her party cadres "were ready to die".
The TMC supremo, who usually steps out of her Kalighat residence in the afternoon on polling day to cast her vote at Mitra Institution School, went out before 8 am and visited several polling stations in the constituency, including those in the Chetla area of south Kolkata.
She later sat outside a polling station at Chakraberia in Bhabanipur and spoke to reporters, alleging irregularities and accusing the BJP of trying to influence the polling process through central forces and observers.
"Several observers have come from outside and are acting as per the BJP's directions. People are supposed to cast their votes -- can voting take place like this?" Banerjee said.
She also alleged that all TMC party flags had been removed beforehand and claimed that outsiders were interfering with the polling process.
"They are not allowing the councillor of ward number 70 to step out. They are picking up all our boys. Abhishek and I stayed awake the entire night," she said.
Banerjee further claimed that some people from outside the state were trying to create disturbances in the constituency and sought immediate intervention from the Election Commission.
The BJP, however, dismissed her allegations, claiming that the ruling party was trying to create confusion after sensing public anger against it.
Adhikari said the CM will lose the election.
The LoP offered prayers at two temples in the constituency's Khidirpur area.
Adhikari said people are coming out in large numbers to vote, with the Election Commission making proper arrangements for ensuring free and fair election.
"Does not matter, she will lose," Adhikari told reporters about the TMC chief venturing out on polling day early in the morning in a departure from her practice of going out only in the afternoon to cast her vote.
The party's de facto second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee, on the other hand, asserted that the TMC will win with a higher number of seats than in 2021.
The Diamond Harbour MP, after casting his vote at Mitra Institution, accused the poll observers of highhandedness in different places.
"But these things will not matter, we will win by a higher number of seats this election," he told reporters.
Voting is underway in 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Polling began at 7 am with voters lining up outside booths across Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and Purba Bardhaman -- districts that together form the political and electoral core of the state.
The outcome of this phase is expected to be crucial as it covers south Bengal, considered the TMC's traditional stronghold, where the BJP is seeking major inroads.
Polling will continue till 6 pm.
The first phase of the assembly elections on April 23 had recorded a turnout of 93.19 per cent -- the highest ever in the state.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
