Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 8: Karnataka high court resorted to use of teleconferencing facility on Tuesday April 7 in which it also granted temporary relief in a case of alleged abduction of a woman and her two children. The high court chose to use this facility as the entire country is under lockdown on account of coronavirus threat.

Judge of the high court, Justice B Veeerappa, who took up the case, heard arguments put forth by Bengaluru-based public prosecutor, and Mangaluru-based advocate P P Hegde. The judge also passed an order granting interim stay against investigation in the case.

P P Hegde

In a family case, a woman, who feared getting arrested, had approached the high court through her Mangaluru-based advocate. The high court, considering this as urgent case, allowed the advocate from Mangaluru to place arguments from his office at Mangaluru via teleconferencing facility on Tuesday.

The complex case relates to a woman from Suratkal, who was staying with her husband and two children at Dubai. She came back to her native place during the first week of March this year along with children. Her husband did not come back. On March 15, she on her own accord, left her husband and went along with her children to Udupi to live with a person staying there. She told her parents that when in Dubai, her husband had inflicted physical and mental torture to her and therefore, she does not intend to live with him anymore. Her husband, who came to know this, came to Suratkal, and filed a complaint in the police station there, claiming that his wife and children were abducted, and seeking police help to find them out.

As the police took up the case and the woman faced the prospects of getting arrested, she contacted high court advocate from Mangaluru, P P Hegde, and requested him to approach the high court and allow her to live as per her own will.

On account of lockdown, the advocate, who was helpless because of lockdown, sent all the records through mail to the high court registrar general and sought relief. The high court registrar general placed these records before the Chief Justice and convinced him that the case was urgent. The Chief Justice considered the case as urgent and entrusted it to the single judge bench of the high court. Justice B Veerappa, who took up the case, after hearing arguments from both the sides through teleconferencing, issued temporary stay order against all further investigation in the case.