The Supreme Court today confirmed the life sentence given to P Rajagopal, the founder of Hotel Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants, in a murder case. It has directed Rajagopal to surrender before July 7 in the case related to the murder of Prince Santhakumar, husband of one Jeevajothi, in 2001. In 2009, Rajagopal was sentenced to life in the murder case by the Madras High Court that enhanced his 10-year rigorous imprisonment awarded by a trial court.
The verdict was announced by a division bench comprising Justices P.K. Mishra and R. Banumathi, who convicted Rajagopal and six others for the 2001 murder. The court also increased his conviction from culpable homicide not amounting to murder, to culpable homicide amounting to murder. Rajagopal had been found guilty of murdering an employee Prince Santhakumar. He was also accused of sexually harassing Shantakumar's widow, Jeevajothi, and the daughter of another employee Ramaswamy.
