Gauri Lankesh murder case: Karnataka High Court grants bail to four more accused

Bengaluru: The high court has granted bail to four more accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case. Justice S Vishwajith Shetty allowed the petitions filed by the accused persons - Bharat Kurane from Belagavi, Srikanth Pangarkar from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Sujith Kumar from Shikaripur, Shivamogga, and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar from Satara, Maharashtra.

The petitioners were chargesheeted for the offences punishable under IPC sections 302, 120B, 118, 203, 35, sections 25(1), 27(1) of the Indian Arms Act, and Sections 3(1)(i), 3(2), 3(3) & 3(4) of the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act. Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by two bike-borne men on the night of September 5, 2017, outside her house in Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru. The Special Investigation Team had identified a total 18 accused/suspects, including mastermind Amol Kale, shooter Parashuram Waghmare and Ganesh Miskin, who rode the motorcycle.

The counsel for the petitioners argued parity and stated that the other accused K T Naveen Kumar, Suresh H L and Amit Degwekar were granted bail a couple of months ago and another accused N Mohan Nayak, a Sullia-based Ayurvedic medicine practitioner, too was granted bail by the high court in 2023.

It was submitted that these four accused (accused numbers 5, 7, 11 and 17) faced similar allegations in the charge sheet. They were granted regular bail on the grounds of their long incarceration. It was further stated that the state and the de-facto complainant had unsuccessfully challenged the bail granted to one of these accused before the Apex Court.

The court noted that the allegation against the petitioners is about conspiring with the other accused persons and also facilitating the commission of crime by arranging vehicles and arms. “The Hon’ble Supreme Court while dismissing the special leave petitions filed by the state and the de facto complainant has taken note of the fact that the prosecution is still required to examine about 100 charge sheet witnesses and it is in this background, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the order passed by this court.

Under the circumstances, the prayer made by the petitioners for grant of regular bail who stand almost on the same footing along with accused nos. 5, 7, 11 & 17 requires to be answered affirmatively,” the court said.

The petitioners have been directed to execute a personal bond for Rs one lakh each with two sureties for the like sum, to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court and attend the trial regularly. The petitioners shall not directly or indirectly threaten or tamper with the prosecution witnesses and should not involve themselves in similar offences in future, the court further said.