Madikeri: Auto driver held for raping woman manual labourer returning from work in Ponnampet
Madikeri: Kodagu police officers arrested an auto rickshaw driver under charge of sexually assaulting a woman while she was returning home from work in Ponnampet recently.
The arrested Manikantha allegedly approached the woman, who was a manual labourer, in a Maruti Omni car in Ponnampet when she was on her way home at 5:30 pm on Sunday. He told the woman that he was going to Kunda and offered to drop her on the way. The woman, who wanted to go to B. Shettygeri, agreed for the drop.
The woman lodged a complaint with the Gonikoppa police on Thursday, alleging that Manikantha had stopped the car after a short distance, sexually assaulted her, also warned her not to file a complaint if she did not want to get killed, and left her on the road.
The Gonikoppa Police, who registered the complaint and investigated the matter, arrested Manikantha.
Virajpet DySP R Mohan Kumar, Gonikoppa Circle Inspector Vasant. K. M., Station officer Siddaraj and staff were a part of the investigating team.
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‘Bulldozer Justice’ is like bulldozing the Constitution: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has strongly criticised the practice of demolishing the properties of individuals accused of crimes, equating it to bulldozing the Constitution and undermining the rule of law.
Speaking at the 13th Justice PN Bhagwati International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College in Pune, Justice Bhuyan described the trend as "disturbing" and "depressing." He questioned the justification of such actions, often defended as targeting illegal structures, and highlighted their impact on the families of the accused.
"Using a bulldozer to demolish a property is like running a bulldozer over the Constitution. It is a negation of the very concept of the rule of law and, if not checked, would destroy the very edifice of our justice delivery system," he said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ gained prominence in Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government in 2017 and has since been adopted in other states. The Supreme Court had previously deemed this approach unacceptable under the rule of law.
Justice Bhuyan emphasised that demolitions impact not just the accused but their families as well. "In that house, his mother stays there, his sister stays there, his wife stays there, his children stay there. What is their fault?" he asked. He further questioned whether it was justifiable to render an accused or even a convicted person homeless through such measures.
On the same day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, responding to queries about the recent violence in Nagpur, indicated that the government might consider similar measures. "The Maharashtra government has its own style of working… bulldozer will roll when necessary," he said.
Violence erupted in central Nagpur following rumours that a sacred text was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing group demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Justice Bhuyan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2023 after serving as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, reiterated the importance of upholding due process and warned against actions that undermine constitutional principles.
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