SC upholds life sentence of Maoist in ex-MP killing case

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by a member of banned Maoist group who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of a Congress MP in Andhra Pradesh in 1995.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by a member of banned Maoist group who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of a Congress MP in Andhra Pradesh in 1995.

HT Image

The apex court has held that the prosecution had established beyond doubt the involvement of Patangi Balarama Venkata Ganesh Ganesh in the killing of Ongole Congress MP Magunta Subbarama Reddy.

A bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph also dismissed the appeal of CBI challenging the acquittal of co- accused Vistaria Prakash, also said to be a member of the CPI-M (Maoist) who was acquitted by the high court.

The bench said the DNA evidence submitted by the prosecution and corroborated by other eye witnesses and circumstantial evidence clearly established Ganesh's involvement in the killing.

However, the apex court said that in the case of Prakash CBI could not bring any material evidence to establish his role in the killing and hence dismissed the agency's appeal challenging his acquittal.

The Congress MP was gunned down at a house in Markapur town of Ongole district, Andhra Pradesh, by the Maoists who at that time were operating under the name of the Peoples War Group (PWG). His personal gunman Ch Venkatratnam was also gunned down in the killing by the Maoists at that time.

The sessions court had convicted and sentenced both Ganesh and Prakash to life imprisonment, after which the duo filed the appeal in the high court.