Dharwad, Nov 13 The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court in a major decision on Wednesday has stayed the order of the lower court convicting 98 persons of life imprisonment in an atrocity case while granting bail to 97 convicted persons.
The bench has ordered each convict to provide Rs 50,000 bond and surety from a person. The court has also granted bail for three other accused who were convicted of five years of imprisonment.
The prime accused in the case has not submitted the bail petition to the court.
In a historical judgment on October 25, a Karnataka court convicted 98 persons to life imprisonment in an atrocity case reported in the Koppal district of the state.
Judge C. Chandrashekar passed the judgment in the case.
Sources said that it was the first case in the history of the state that such a large number of accused have been convicted of life imprisonment in an atrocity case.
The incident had taken place in Marakumbi village in Gangavathi taluk.
The Gangavathi police had investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet.
A total of 101 persons were produced before the court and among them, three accused persons belonging to the SC and ST community were awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment with a Rs 5,000 fine, and the rest belonging to the upper caste were awarded with life imprisonment.
The incident took place on August 28, 2014.
The accused were charged with demolishing the houses of Dalits and attacking them in the village for a trivial matter.
The Gangavathi police had registered an FIR against 117 persons.
Enraged by the proactiveness of a few Dalit youths who questioned untouchability in the village, the accused barged into the Dalit's colony and torched their huts.
The accused had also destroyed the houses and attacked Dalits.
The judge had reserved the order for Thursday as the charges were established against the accused in the charge sheet and before the court.
The police had taken 101 persons into custody while the remaining 16 persons had died.
mka/dan
--IANS
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