Death for Pune road rage bus driver Santosh Mane

All the entreaties and arguments of Santosh Manersquos attorney failed to pass muster The rogue driver who hijacked a bus andmowed down nine people on Punersquos streets in January last year was awarded the death sentence by Additional Sessions Judge VK Shevale yesterday terming the crime lsquorarest of rarersquo While pronouncing the quantum of punishment the judge maintained that it is necessary to send a stern and strong message to the criminals in society The long walk Santosh Mane being escorted out of Shivajinagar court by police officials after he was awarded the death penalty yesterdayu00a0PicKrunal Gosavi The court rejected the pleas of the convictrsquos lawyer that Mane should be shown leniency considering his age and chances of reformation and rehabilitation in future The judge said that if the court were merciful towards him it would send a wrong message to society that even after committing such a lsquoheinous and goryrsquo act someone can go out of the court with a lsquostiff collarrsquo and there would be no fear of the law ldquoLooking at the conduct of the accused during the January 25 2012 incident it is clear that his intention was to kill innocent people and in his rampage he had categorically avoided hitting large vehicles and buildings and only targeted small automobiles and pedestriansrdquo the judge said He added that Mane was instructed to stop by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC officials Ajit Limye Anil Diwate and Rajendra Gaikwad after he had knocked down two persons near the bus stand However the killer driver paid no heed to them and continued with his mayhem ldquoWhen PMPML driver Amar Chavan who was one of the main prosecution witnesses boarded the bus outside Swargate bus stand tried to stop Mane and told him not kill people the convict angrily retorted that it was lsquonone of his businessrsquo punched Chavan and then threw him onto the road This shows that it was his aim to kill people and create havoc in the city and hence no leniency should be shown to himrdquo the judge said The court also flayed Mane and Dr Dilip Burate maintaining that both had tried to present false evidences trying to prove that this was a crime of insanity During the trial it was proved that the defencersquos claims regarding Manersquos unstable mental condition and before that he was previously receiving treatment at Dr Buratersquos clinic in Solapur where he was also given Electroconvulsive Therapy ECT were complete lies Judge Shevale has issued a perjury notice to Dr Burate seeking explanation on why he should not be tried in a court of law for presenting false evidence The judge also said that Manersquos claim that he was driving the bus under the influence of lsquoblack magicrsquo and did not know what was happening at the time was an afterthought and he along with Dr Burate had cooked up the story to get the advantage of section 84 acts done by unsound mind of IPC While arguing on the quantum of punishment district government pleader and public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar submitted before the court that January 25 2012 was lsquothe blackest dayrsquo in the lives of citizens of Pune ldquoCollege and school students citizens going to work innocent pedestrians were killed in a brutal manner The case falls in the lsquorarest of rarersquo category Hence Mane should be awarded the death sentencerdquo she argued On the other hand the defence counsel told the court that the driver had worked with MSRTC since 1999 and had never assaulted anyone before None of the deceased had any enmity with him He is the only earning member of his family So the court should take a lenient view on his sentence and give him a chance to reform While declining the request to give life imprisonment to Mane instead of the death penalty the judge said that if he was sent to prison Mane will get remission in the 14 year terms and lsquothere are politicians to help such peoplersquo Voices The judge has considered this to be a rarest of rare cases and I am very happy with the quantum of punishment This will send an appropriate message to society The judge also threw out his mentalproblem defence as all the documents are forged Considering the way he killed all nine and especially Akshay Pise Mane deserves this mdash Ujjwala Pawar district government pleader I am very satisfied with the judgment The incident is etched in my memory I got injured but my daughter lost her life in the mayhem unleashed by Mane mdash Bhaurao Patil father of deceased Pooja Patil Whatever the families have lost cannot be recovered but I am sure all the families are happy with the order But I believe he should be hanged immediately as he does not have the right to live after taking 9 lives He took away the father of my kids mdash Nandini Gaikwad wife of deceased Milind Gaikwad We will be taking the case to the high court I had sought minimum punishment as he is the sole earning member of his family mdash Dhananjay Mane defence lawyeru00a0 Did you know After he killed 9 persons injured 37 others and damaged 25 vehicles the state transport department only suspended and not terminated Santosh Mane from service ldquoAn inquiry was launched by divisionalcontroller level officials Now the panel may declare a decision based on the court verdictrdquo said Vijay Divte manager Swargate bus depot