BENGALURU: Dharwad Rural MLA and former Congress minister Vinay Kulkarni has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2016 murder of BJP worker Yogesh Gowda in Dharwad.A serving lawmaker sentenced to a jail term of two or more years faces immediate disqualification from the House.Santosh Gajanan Bhat, special judge of the special court for elected representatives, announced the quantum of punishment two days after holding him and 16 others guilty of plotting and murdering Gowda, a Dharwad zilla panchayat member. Kulkarni was a minister at that time. The court also sentenced 15 others convicted of the same crimes to life imprisonment.Another accused, who was a circle inspector of police, was charged with destroying evidence and screening the offender, CBI advocate Hema told PTI. “He was given 7 years of rigorous imprisonment,” she said.“When my husband was murdered, I, too, was abused in different ways. Now, the judiciary has brought out the truth,” said Mallamma, Yogesh Gowda’s wife.Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, who is also president of KPCC, called the case a political conspiracy against Kulkarni. He accused then BJP govt of handing the case to the CBI just when the state police were filing a closure report. The CBI investigated the case and filed a chargesheet.Citing his own example of ED “cases foisted” on him, Shivakumar said, “Kulkarni has sworn on god that he has committed no wrong. I believe him. He needn’t lose faith in the judiciary as there are higher courts of law where he will get justice. Justice may be delayed, but he will certainly get it. I am sure he’ll get a reprieve.”In life sentences, the govt has discretionary power to release prisoners after 14 years on grounds of good conduct. Kulkarni’s team pleaded for leniency citing his family responsibilities and good record as an MLA and minister.The court directed Kulkarni to pay Rs 16 lakh compensation to Gowda’s three daughters and a son. Special public prosecutors had argued for “life imprisonment without remission”, emphasising the involvement of a sitting legislator required a sentence that sent a clear message to society.
