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Santosh Mane: Bombay high court irked by advocates' absence in death confirmation matter

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The high court rapped the defence advocates of Santosh Mane, for repeatedly failing to appear in court.

A division bench of justices NH Patil and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a death confirmation petition filed by the state government and the appeal filed by Santosh challenging his sentence.

Santosh, who is a state transport bus driver, is sentenced to death for killing nine people and injuring 37 in Pune last year.

"It is a confirmation matter. It is a question of someone's life and death and they (advocates) don't come for the hearing," remarked justice Patil.

During the hearing on March 13, Jagdish Mane, one of the advocates of Santosh, had sought time saying that a senior counsel appointed to argue the matter was not available.

On April 8, he sought adjournment saying that the counsel would be available in the last week of this month (April).

In view of this statement, the HC had kept the hearing on Tuesday. However, on Tuesday neither Jagdish nor any senior counsel were present.

Even on earlier occasions, when the advocates Jagdish and his son appeared, they had sought repeated adjournments seeking that Santosh should be examined by a psychiatrist or doctor outside Pune, to verify that he is of sound mind.

Santosh had challenged his conviction on the ground that he was of unsound mind and was undergoing treatment for mental illness.

Jagdish had argued earlier this month that Santosh was examined by the doctors from Yerawada mental facility, who certified that he (Santosh) was fit to undergo trial. However, these doctors were never examined as witnesses by the prosecution to prove the certificate given by them.

On January 25, 2012, Santosh hijacked an empty state transport bus from the Swargate depot in Pune and drove the bus down the wrong side of one of the busiest street in Pune.

Santosh rode for about 25km during which he rammed into moving and stationary vehicles and pedestrians. He was later nabbed by the police.

In December 2013, the sessions court at Pune had awarded death penalty to Santosh.

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