A Karnataka High Court judge died and four others, including three from his family, were injured when the car they were travelling in overturned near Odulapalli in Talupula mandal in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The police said that Justice L. Govindarajulu (56) died in the accident, while his wife Rajeshwari, sons Akhil and Abhishekh and driver Vijay Kumar were injured. The condition of Ms Rajeshwari is said to be serious.
The judge’s family was heading from Bengaluru to Proddutur in Kadapa district when the car fell into a ditch, injuring all members of the family and the driver. Locals rushed them to Pulivendula Hospital, and the doctors suggested that Justice Govindarajulu had to be shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Kadapa as his condition was critical. He died on the way.
Justice Govindarajulu, 59, enrolled as an advocate in 1980 in Bellary and took up civil and criminal cases. He worked as a district and sessions judge for over 16 years before he was appointed additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in March 2010. He was one of the judges in the division bench that quashed an FIR against B.S. Yeddyurappa. The FIR had been filed based on the Lokayukta report and led to his exit as chief minister. While sitting in the vacation bench recently, he had also stayed the Lokayukta proceedings against former minister H.D. Revanna.
Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, judges, and advocate-general expressed condolences.