New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (January 24) refused to cancel bail granted to Kannada actors Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda, and five others in the murder case of Renukaswamy but said it agreed to examine the plea filed by the Karnataka government challenging bail granted to them.
A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, while hearing the state government’s appeal against the Karnataka High Court order, issued notice to Darshan, Pavithra and others.
What did the apex court say?
The bench, while taking note of the submission of the state government that other co-accused in the case would be allowed to take advantage of the bail order passed by the Karnataka High Court, the court directed court concerned to not place reliance on the High Court order.
“Since state (Karnataka government) is praying for cancellation of bail, it would not be proper to stay the operation of the order as it would amount to cancellation of bail. Yet, to protect the interest of prosecution, if any co-accused prays on bail, the court concerned shall not place reliance on the order (High Court) challenged before us. Any bail application filed shall be decided on its own merit,” the apex court bench said.
High Court granted bail to Darshan, Pavithra and others on December 13 last year
Darshan, Pavithra and five others – R Nagaraju, Anu Kumar alias Anu, Lakshman M, Jagadeesh alias Jagga and Pradoosh S Rao – were granted bail by the High Court on December 13 last year.
The Karnataka government moved the Supreme Court against the High Court order granting bail to Darshan, Pavithra and others in the case.
Darshan, Pavithra and 15 other persons are accused in the case
Darshan, Pavithra and 15 other persons are accused in the Renukaswamy murder case. Darshan was arrested in the case on June 11 last year. It has been alleged that Renukaswamy, a fan of Darshan who hailed from Chitradurga district in Karnataka, was allegedly tortured to death allegedly by the actor and other accused persons after he was allegedly abducted from his hometown.
The Bengaluru Police had on September 4 last year filed a 3,991-page preliminary charge sheet before a Bengaluru court in the murder case.
