Mumbai:
Observing that the accused was not heard by the trial court on the point of sentence, the Bombay High Court today set aside the death penalty imposed on Santosh Mane, a Pune bus driver, who mowed down nine persons and injured 37 in January last year.
Hearing an appeal filed by the driver against conviction and confirmation of death penalty awarded to him by the trial court, the bench of Justices PV Hardas and PN Deshmukh held that it would be just and proper if the accused was heard on the point of sentence.
The bench remanded the matter back to the trial court to the extent of hearing the accused on the point of sentence. The Court ordered that Mane be produced before the trial court in Pune on October 15. After the Judge hears him on sentence, he would pass an order on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to him, the bench ruled.
His lawyer JD Mane pleaded that the trial court had not considered the argument of accused on the sentence. On the other hand, prosecutor Madhavi Mhatre argued that the defence counsel had pleaded before the trial court on this aspect.
However, this was not reflected in court record.
On April 8 this year, the trial court had given death sentence to Mane, saying the crime committed by him was "the rarest of the rare" as he had killed people by running them over, fully conscious of the consequences of his act. The Court had said that Mane had not dashed the bus against any building on the roads but targeted people to kill them.
Mane was held guilty under sections 302 (murder), 381 (theft of employer's property), 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code.
Mane had hijacked a state transport bus from Swargate depot here on the morning of January 25, 2012, and mowed down nine persons, injuring 37 others in a nightmarish ride on the city streets that sent shock waves in the area.
A dozen vehicles were also damaged in the mayhem unleashed by the driver, who was finally stopped by police and members of public after a hot chase.