False habeas corpus plea irks Dharwad HC bench

DHARWAD: The Dharwad high court bench has come down heavily on a father-son duo for trying to misguide the court and police by filing a habeas corpus application.


It has directed the Bagalkot superintendent of police to file criminal case against Dyamanna Goudannavar and his son of Tumbaramatti village.

Dyamanna had filed a complaint that Manappa had been missing. Subsequently, he had filed a habeas corpus application in the high court bench, saying that police were not tracing his son.

The division bench, comprising Justices S Satyanarayana and P G M Patil found that Dyamanna was in constant touch with Manappa and knew his whereabouts. The bench, while dismissing the application, said the petitioner by filing a false application had cheated the judiciary, police and advocates and wasted their valuable time. The bench slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the applicant.

The case

Manappa married Sushmita of Huliginal village in Bagalkot district in 2016 and separated from her following differences within the family. In 2017, Manappa visited Kerala where Sushmita’s father was working and from there he was reported ‘missing’.

During the hearing, it was revealed that Manappa had returned to Karnataka and married another girl. Dyamanna knew about it and still filed the habeas corpus application.