Will approach SC against disqualification: Rebel JD(S) MLA Vishwanath
Pune/Bengaluru, Jul 28: Rebel JD(S) MLA A H Vishwanath, who was disqualified by the Karnataka Speaker on Sunday, said the decision was "against the law" and he and other aggrieved legislators would approach the Supreme Court for redressal on Monday.
Karnataka Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Sunday disqualified 14 more rebel MLAs 11 from the Congress and three from the JD(S) under the anti-defection law till the end of the current term of the House in 2023.
Kumar had disqualified three Congress rebel MLAs on Thursday.
"The disqualification is against the law...just under a whip served on them, you cannot force the legislators to come to the House," Vishwanath told PTI over phone.
"The speaker has disqualified 20 members of the legislature on the grounds that they have not attended the House...so against this decision pronounced by the Speaker, we are approaching the Supreme Court on Monday," the MLA said from an undisclosed location.
The disqualifications came a day ahead of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa seeking the trust vote in the assembly to prove his majority.
In Bengaluru, another disqualified rebel MLA from Maski, Pratap Gowda Patil, asked the voters in a video message not to panic and said they were confident of emerging victorious in the Supreme Court.
"Dear voters and my well wishers, Speaker has ordered my disqualification from the assembly... there is no need to panic, we are challenging this in the Supreme Court.
I'm confident that we will be victorious in the court," Patil said
Speaking to a local news channel, another disqualified MLA Munirathana said they were aware that they would be disqualified as Congress leaders had threatened them about it.
"... our own party leaders had said we will disqualify if you if (you) go out... we are not small children or we have not gone out without knowledge of others," he said, adding that they would face the action legally.
Alleging that many Congress leaders wanted this coalition government to end, but had not acted on it, Munirathna alleged that leaders within his party did not even cooperate with Kumaraswamy to run the government smoothly.
"They (Congress leaders) are playing a game now, to show that they were loyal to JD(S)...we will reveal everything to people in coming days," he added.
Shivaram Hebbar, who represented Yellapur, alleged in a Facebook post that the Speaker's decision to disqualify the rebels was done in a partisan manner under pressure and the matter would reach the Supreme Court soon.
Expressing confidence of getting justice from the Apex court, he said he has complete faith in his voters and would soon submit himself before the people's court.
"I will soon reveal to you the reasons for my decisions and will take further steps after consulting you," he told his voters and supporters.
The Congress and JDS, whose government collapsed on Tuesday last after rebellion by a section of their MLAs, had made petitions to the speaker to disqualify their errant members.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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