'If You Chop Off A Leg...': Karnataka HC Draws Attention After Judge Calls For Harsher Punishments

'If You Chop Off A Leg...': Karnataka HC Draws Attention After Judge Calls For Harsher Punishments

Remarks made by a Karnataka High Court judge while hearing a rape case have triggered a wider debate on judicial rhetoric, criminal justice and the limits of punishment in a constitutional democracy. The controversy arose after the court refused bail to a 23-year-old engineering student accused of raping a former classmate. During the hearing, Justice R Nataraj observed that the law had become ineffective because offenders were not dealt with fi…

Karnataka HC cites Gulf nations’ strict laws while rejecting rape accused’s bail plea

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, while rejecting the bail application of a 23-year-old engineering student accused of raping his classmate, made strong observations on rising crime and the need for stricter enforcement of laws. The court remarked that people often take the freedoms available in a democracy for granted and suggested that stringent punishments, similar to those seen in some Gulf nations, act as stronger deterrents against crim…

‘Chop a Limb and People Will Obey Law’: Karnataka HC Calls for Stronger Deterrence While Denying Bail in Rape Case

The Karnataka High Court has refused to grant bail to a 23-year-old engineering student accused of rape, making unusually sharp oral observations on deterrence, punishment, and what the court described as a growing lack of fear of law among offenders. Hearing the bail plea of the accused, who has been in judicial custody since April 5, Justice R. Nataraj said that offences were being committed with increasing ease because consequences were not b…

Chopping off limbs may make people comply with law: Karnataka HC judge

While hearing the bail petition, Justice R Nataraj remarked that offenders were not being dealt with firmly enough under the democratic law.