Court to hear Mane case on October 15

After a bench of high court cancelled the death penalty of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus driver Santosh Mane, awarded by the Sessions Court in Pune, his former counsel Dhananjay Mane said that Mane now would be produced before the Additional Sessions Judge VK Shewale on October 15.

He said that on April 8 this year, Additional Sessions Judge VK Shewale had awarded Mane death penalty without giving him an opportunity to tell his side and that prompted HC to cancel the capital punishment and send the case back to the lower court.
Mane said that as per CrPC 235 (2) if any person is held guilty for any offence, he or she gets the opportunity to put forth his or her side, unlike in the case of Mane.

“The current defence lawyer of Mane, Jaideep Mane while arguing in the high court, raised this point and told the court that Mane should be given an opportunity to speak for himself,” he said.

The case
On January 25, 2012, MSRTC driver Santosh Mane had hijacked a MSRTC bus which was parked at Swargate ST depot. He drove away the bus on busy streets of the city. Mane with his reckless driving killed nine people and injured 36 before he was nabbed by alert citizens. Mane was awarded death sentence by the sessions court, which termed his crime as ‘rarest of the rare’.