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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Karnataka High Court refuses to entertain govt. appeal filed after 381 days against acquittal of six persons for insulting Scheduled Caste person
Stating that there is a clear bar in the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to entertain an appeal beyond 180 days after the pronouncement of verdict by trial courts, the High Court of Karnataka has refused to entertain an appeal filed by the State government after 381 days. '...the framers of legislation have made a proviso wherein there is a total bar for entertaining the appeal after 180 days. Therefore, in view of the statutory bar, the delay of 381 days in filing the appeal cannot be condoned,' the court said. Justice V. Srishananda passed the order while dismissing an appeal filed by the State government against the September 7, 2023 verdict of a sessions court in Yadgiri district, acquitting six persons from the charges of insulting a member of the SC community in public view and other offences alleged to have been committed in 2014. The State Public Prosecutor (SPP) had argued that taking away the right of appeal only on the ground of technicality would be harsh in a given case and substantial justice would be denied to a complainant only on the technical ground of limitation of 180 days. However, the court pointed out that Section 14-A(2) of the 1989 Act provides only 90 days to file an appeal before the High Court against the judgement of the trial courts while granting liberty to the HC to condone the delay, after the expiry of the period of 90 days if it [HC] is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within 90 days. As a provision to Section 4(3) of the Act makes it clear that 'no appeal shall be entertained after the expiry of the period of 180 days', the court said that it has no jurisdiction in law to entertain the appeal after 180 days. Meanwhile, the court said that it would be open for the SPP to bring to the notice of the State legislature on requirement to amend the statute, if need be, to provide a remedy for a litigant in such circumstances, where the delay occurs on account of the reasons that are not attributable to a negligent litigant, but on account of bonafide reasons.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- The Hindu
Stringent law needed to curb menace of wheeling on public roads: Karnataka High Court
Taking note of the alarming rise in incidents of wheeling, a motorcycle stunt, on public roads, the High Court of Karnataka has said that it is the duty of the State and its law enforcement agencies to legislate necessary legal provisions and to take stringent measures to suppress this perilous activity by plugging the loophole in the law. A plain reading of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860, it is found that the existing statutory provisions are not adequate for enforcement agencies to effectively curb the menace of 'wheeling', the court said while pointing out that perhaps, at the time of enacting these laws, the legislators did not foresee or specifically contemplate that a two-wheeler would be driven on the hind wheel alone, and hence no express penal provision was envisaged to advert the said mischief. Justice V. Srishananda made these observations while refusing to grant bail to Arbaz Khan, 29, a resident of Gangavati in Koppal district, who was arrested on the charge of manhandling the police who tried to stop him and his accomplices while they were indulging in wheeling on a public road. No specific provisions 'At present, such acts are booked within the ambit of the general offences of reckless or negligent driving. However, it is to be noted that the absence of a specific and necessary provision has resulted in a legislative vacuum, affecting the efficacy of law enforcement agencies in curbing the menace of wheeling, as the offence of reckless driving is bailable in nature,' the court observed. The court said, 'It [wheeling] is a trending menace in the public road which not only endangers the rider and pillion rider of the motorcycle, but also general public at large'. Not acts of bravado It is also pertinent to note that act of wheeling, initially confined to urban areas on sufficiently wide and arterial roads, has extended its tentacles even to rural areas, the court said, while pointing out that the 'younger generation riders of the motorcycle are under the misconception that the act of wheeling is bravado and indulge in such perilous stunts being unaware of the grave risks involved in the said act'.
