Bijapur-Belagavi: In a move to expedite the huge backlog cases before various courts, the state government has decided to go for e-hearings and the first such hearing will be conducted in Belagavi on Friday.
The court will conduct e-hearing of Bannanje Raja case. The gangster has been in Hindalga prison here ever since he was extradited with Interpol's help from Morocco in August, 2015.
Raja could not attend hearings on several occasions in the last one year due to ill health and the court was forced to adjourned cases numerous times. This time the court has decided to expedite a case related to the murder of an Ankola-based businessman.
Satish Singh, Principal and Sessions Judge of Belagavi, pointed out that this move would ease the burden of police and save time.
The police usually struggle a lot while getting notorious prisoners from jails to the courts as it requires several vehicles, personnel and time during every hearing, he added.
The judge pointed out that In the course of bringing criminals to the court, there is always a fear of attack by their accomplices or enemies. On the other hand e-court ensures that the accused remain the jails and the hearings are hassle free. Shortly an e-court would be set up in Belagavi court, to make way for the first hearing, he added.
There are 40 criminal cases registered against Raja in Karnataka and he also faces threat to life from rival gangs. Hence it had become tough for the police to take him to various courts. He was taken to Udupi many times from Belagavi.
Raja used to instill fear among businessmen to extort money. He ordered the killing of a Mangaluru-based realtor Ramachandra Narayan Naik in 2013 and claimed responsibility. He also had threatened Dubai-based hotelier Praveen Shetty, who lodged a complaint with the police in India.
