Soumya rape case verdict: Incensed by Katju's FB post, SC challenges former judge to debate

New Delhi, Oct 17: The Supreme Court today asked former judge M Katju to come to court and discuss his Facebook post in which he criticised a judgment in the Soumya rape and murder case.

Justice Markandey Katju had said that the Supreme Court had "grievously erred by law" in the Soumya rape and murder case in which the death sentence of the accused Govindachamy was commuted.

In a Facebook post, he said: "The Supreme Court has grievously erred by law by not holding Govindachamy guilty of murder."

The SC had commuted to life the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy for raping 23-year-old Soumya on February 1, 2011 in Kerala.

Following this the state as well as the parents had filed a review in the Supreme Court. The court today kept the review in abeyance while stating that it would debate with Justice Katju on his facebook post.

We have the greatest respect for him. But let him come down and debate the fundamental flaw in our case the court also observed.

The court had found that there was no intention on the part of the accused to kill the victim. It held that since it has not been proved that the accused had intention to kill, he cannot be held guilty of murder.

OneIndia News