Bengaluru: The High Court divisional bench comrising Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice R B Budihal on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by serial rapist B A Umesh (Umesh Reddy) for a week, on technical grounds.

Reddy has approached the High Court, seeking directions to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, over the delay caused in replying to his mercy petition. Reddy has filed a writ petition contending that he has been behind bars for more than 18 years, including 10 years of solitary confinement during which he has suffered mental illness and is taking antipsychotic medicines. The Supreme Court had confirmed his death sentence, following which the Hindalga jail in Belagavi has been making preparations for his execution.