Praveen Nettaru murder case: K'taka HC dismisses accused plea for transfer to same jail

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the accused in Praveen Nettaru murder case seeking transfer to the same jail citing risk to their lives and for facilitating discussion with their counsel.

A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna delivered the verdict while hearing the petition filed by the 10 accused, including Abdul Basheer who are presently lodged in different prisons in the state.

The petitioners had sought to be transferred to a single prison facility in Bengaluru citing the threat to their lives and for easy access to legal counsel as there were no proper facilities in all jails for video conferencing.

The bench also directed the state government that the accused be provided with the best video conferencing facility to maintain the confidentiality of their conversations with their lawyers and family members. Headphones should be provided so that the privacy of the accused’s conversations is maintained and there will be no allegation of breach of privacy. Therefore, the government should ensure to provide these facilities in all jails, the court said.

On the petitioners’ concerns regarding risk to their lives, the court observed that the government must keep the prisoners safe and ensure no untoward event takes place in prison premises.

The advocate general, appearing for the government, assured that the government will ensure that the petitioner’s lives are not endangered and no untoward incidents occur.

All the accused arrested in the case are from the banned PFI and it is not advisable to keep them in one place as they have confessed to the crime. At this stage, relocation to one place is unnecessary. “Therefore, the petition is dismissed,” the bench said.