Santosh Mane, a former state transport bus driver, who has been awarded death penalty for mowing down nine persons in a fit of reckless driving on Pune roads in January 2012, today pleaded before the Bombay High Court that he was of "unsound mind" at the relevant time
Santosh Mane, a former state transport bus driver, who has been awarded death penalty for mowing down nine persons in a fit of reckless driving on Pune roads in January 2012, today pleaded before the Bombay High Court that he was of "unsound mind" at the relevant time.
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READ: Death for Pune road rage bus driver Santosh Mane
Mane's lawyer argued that he did not have the motive to commit such a heinous crime and that at the time of the incident he was of "unsound mind".
A bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode was hearing an appeal filed by Mane against his conviction by the Pune trial court.
ST bus driver Santosh Mane (41) mowed down 9 people and damaged several vehicles in Pune. File Pic
To a query by the bench whether the trial court had observed that he was of "unsound mind" at the time of the incident, the lawyer replied in the negative.
However, the lawyer said, at the stage of remand, the driver had filed an application in the trial court saying that he was of "unsound mind" and for that he needed treatment. The court had then asked a psychiatrist to give him medical help.
The lawyer further informed the bench that the trial court had rejected Mane's plea that he was of "unsound mind".
The high court wanted to know whether Mane had challenged that order in a higher court. To this, lawyer replied in the negative but said he had a doctor's certificate saying Mane was of "unsound mind".
However, the high court said that it was not sufficient to have a letter from the doctor about the accused being of "unsound mind". "You (Mane) cannot take such a plea just because you are being treated for this. The trial court should have given a finding to this effect," the bench said.
The court was hearing an appeal filed by Mane against death sentence, along with the appeal on confirmation of death penalty given to Mane.
In September, 2013, the high court had set aside the death penalty awarded to Mane, noting that the trial court had not heard him on the point of sentence. The court referred the matter back to the trial court, asking it to hear Mane again.
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