INDIA: JUDGES DIFFER ON DEATH SENTENCE FOR UMESH REDDY

the Karnataka High Court in India delivered a split verdict on a lower court order sentencing notorious criminal Umesh Reddy to death for murder and rape. A Division Bench comprising Justice V.G. Sabhahit and Justice Ravi B. Naik came out with differing verdicts. While Justice Sabhahit confirmed the sentence, Justice Ravi Naik said that Umesh ought to be imprisoned for life. The State had sought confirmation of the death sentence, saying that there was strong circumstantial evidence to prove that Umesh had raped and brutally murdered Jayashree, a 37 year old widow, in Dasarahalli, Peenya, on February 28, 1998. The 7th Fast Track Court, Bangalore, sentenced Umesh to death on October 27, 2006. With the Bench delivering a split verdict, the case would now be posted to a third judge whose opinion would be final.