Madras HC awards life term to Saravana Bhavan owner

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday enhanced to life imprisonment the 10-year jail term awarded to hotel chain Saravana Bhavan owner R Rajagopal and eight others in a murder case. A Division Bench, comprising Justice PK Mishra and Justice R Bhanumathi, passed an order on an appeal by the prose-cution seeking higher sentence than that awarded by the trial court in April 2004.

The Bench dismissed appeals by the convicted persons seeking acquittal in the case. Rajagopal (59), founder of the Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels, was found guilty by a fast track court in connection with the murder of an em-ployee Prince Shantakumar in 2001. The court had sentenced him to ten years rigorous imprisonment in 2004.

In November 2008, Rajagopal���s son P Shiva Kumar was arrested on charges of forging documents to smuggle people into the US. The arrest also resulted in the cancellation of several lucrative contracts of the hotel chain to supply food to American diplomatic missions.

According to the hotel group���s website, it has 22 outlets in the south, three in the north and 22 outlets abroad.