On January 25, 2012, Mane had hijacked a bus and mowed down nine persons, after he was allegedly denied a work shift of his choice.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence handed down to a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus driver Santosh Mane, who had hijacked an empty bus and mowed down nine people and injured 36 in Pune in 2012, to life imprisonment.
A bench of Justice A K Sikri, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice M R Shah disposed Mane's appeal and took into consideration the aggravating circumstances. Maharashtra government counsel Nishant Katneshwarkar said the SC in its operative order commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. "The reasoning would be known only after the final judgment is made available," he said.
Mane's counsel argued that the incident was not pre-determined. He said that although the accused had driven the bus and mowed down nine persons, it did not fall under the rarest of rare category and did not deserve maximum punishment.
The SC had earlier called for a report from the prison regarding Mane's medical condition. The prison report stated that he was 'behaving normally'.
The Bombay High Court in 2014 had confirmed the death sentence awarded to Mane by the Pune Sessions Court. "This is an exceptional and rarest of the rare cases where the crime is so cruel, diabolical and revolting so as to shock the collective conscience of society," the court had said.
On January 25, 2012, Mane had hijacked a bus and mowed down nine persons, after he was allegedly denied a work shift of his choice. The HC had in its judgment noted: "This is not a case of a driver of a public vehicle committing a road incident driving a bus while on duty. It is a case where after hijacking the bus, he killed innocent people and damaged public property undaunted by all attempts made to dissuade him from his killing spree of hapless victims."
The court had also turned down the plea of insanity raised by Mane, saying that doctors had certified that Mane was of sound mind. It had said that death penalty is justified in this case.
Deadly Drive
In 2012, Santosh Mane hijacked an empty bus from Swargate depot, and went on a 40-minute rampage killing 9 people, injuring 36
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