Union law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily on Friday said he was upset by the delay in the delivery of verdict in the Pratibha Murthy rape and murder case.
“I must say that it is not justifiable for the delay. A fast track court is a fast track court and that is what it is meant for,” Mr Moily said. The minister said that the government was also working on a law to bring consistency in sentencing. “I will be talking to the judiciary so that the very concept of the fast track court is not distorted,” he said. He added that the government would ensure that the fast track court should serve their purpose. The comments of the law minister came after a fast track court in Bengaluru sentenced cab driver Shiva Kumar to life imprisonment for killing 22-year-old Pratibha Srikanthamurthy. The sentencing came after a five-year trial.
The minister again said that the government was working on “sentencing guidelines. Where the courts give varying judgments. I am bringing out a law in itself so that there will be some sort of a consistency and also a uniformity in sentencing in the cases.”
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Chavan meets Antony
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan met defence minister and AICC in-charge of the party affairs in the state A.K. Antony against the backdrop of speculation that he is backing PCC president Manikrao Thakre for a second term. Mr Chavan, who arrived here on Thursday, had a meeting with Mr Antony and the Congress president’s political secretary Ahmed Patel on Friday.
The PCC has already passed a resolution authorising Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to appoint a PCC chief and the Mumbai regional Congress president. The central leaders of the party are consulting the state leaders to ensure that a new PCC president should be acceptable to all.
He or she should not be identified with one faction of the party.
The chief minister obviously wants to have a PCC chief of his choice but his detractors want he should not get a free hand and a new PCC president should act independently.