A division bench of the high court of Karnataka, on Wednesday, adjourned the hearing of an application, filed by four persons found guilty of murder, challenging a lower court order, after unidentified persons distributed pamphlets in favour of the slain man.
The bench comprising justices K Sreedhar Rao and BV Pinto noticed the distribution of pamphlets in the court premises while hearing the plea of S Shubha and three others in the sensational murder of BV Girish, an Intel engineer, engaged to the woman.
The court ordered the prosecution and complainants to file affidavits by Thursday, when the application would be taken up for further hearing.
A fast track court (FTC) had on July 14 sentenced Shubha, her boyfriend Arun Verma, his cousin Dinakar alias Dinesh and a rowdy, Venkatesh, to life imprisonment. Girish, was attacked on December 3, 2003, three days after his betrothal to Shubha. He died the next day.
The convicts moved the high court, requesting it to quash the sentence handed down by the 17th FTC. The state also approached the court requesting an enhanced sentence to the four persons.
The FTC had also slapped a fine of Rs50,000 each on all the four. Besides the sentence for criminal conspiracy, Shubha was also awarded another three years imprisonment and Rs25,000 fine for destroying evidence and providing false information for misleading investigators. Venkatesh was ordered to serve an additional life sentence, which would run concurrently.
More than 60 witnesses were examined during the trial which began in December 2007. Its verdict came after more than 400 hearings.
The prosecution had earlier submitted before the FTC that Shubha plotted with others to eliminate Girish.
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