Saravana Bhavan Rajagopal gets life term for murder

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life imprisonment of P Rajagopal, the owner of south Indian hotel chain Saravana Bhavan, for murdering an employee in October 2001 in order to marry his wife.

A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana gave Rajagopal time till July 7 to surrender.

The ruling comes on the Madras High Court order upholding his life imprisonment. The High Court had enhanced the 10-year sentence given by a trial court.

When contacted, Rajagopal's son P R Shivakumar told IANS: "I just got an SMS about the verdict. I have to get more details."

The hugely popular Saravana Bhavan hotel chain has outlets within and outside India and is now managed by Shivakumar.

Rajagopal was arrested on charges of murdering his employee, Prince Shantakumar, so as to marry his wife.