The Supreme Court on July 17 raised questions over the Karnataka high court’s bail to Kannada film actor Darshan in the Renukaswamy murder case. It said, it was prima facie not convinced. The actor and some others in the case were granted bail on December 13, 2024.
A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan told senior advocate Kapil Sibal that he had to give good reasons for the apex court to not interfere with the high court’s decision.
Challenging the order of the Karnataka high court, the state had filed an appeal in the top court, seeking cancellation of the actor’s bail.
Justice Pardiwala told Sibal, “To be very honest with you, we are not convinced with the manner in which the HC has exercised discretion. We will hear you because your clients are on bail; they (state) have come for cancellation of bail and you must have seen the manner in which the high court had dictated the order.”
Sibal responded that keeping aside the high court’s decision, the court can look into section 161 and 164 statements and two to three key witnesses, including the police. The veteran lawyer wanted to know from the judges as to which part of the HC’s order the bench found problematic. Justice Pardiwala replied, “That part of the order where the high court was really saying how to release them on bail.”
The court asked Sibal to come prepared next Tuesday.
According to the prosecution, Darshan, a 47-year-old Kannada film actor, was arrested on June 11, 2024, in connection with the murder of 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga. The victim’s body was discovered near a stormwater drain in Bangalore on June 9, 2024.
After the investigation, the Bangalore police filed a chargesheet and arrayed Pavithra as accused number 1 and Darshan as accused number 2. Police claimed that Renukaswamy’s act of sending offensive messages to Pavithra was the motive of the offence committed by Darshan and others.
Initially, a sessions court had rejected the bail of Darshan, forcing him to knock the doors of the high court.