HC grants bail for key suspect in Baliga murder

The High Court on Thursday granted bail to Naresh Shenoy, the key suspect in the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga.

Justice B Sreenivase Gowda granted bail on condition that Shenoy deposit a bond for Rs 2 lakh, two sureties, to surrender the passport, not to destroy evidence, to co-operate with the investigation and not to leave the police station jurisdiction.

Shenoy, one of the founders of Namo Brigade, is the main accused in the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga in the early hours of March 21 this year.

The prosecution has said that Shenoy was named by two other accused in the murder, in their voluntary statements to the police. They said Baliga was murdered as he was trying to get details of the mismanagement of funds at the Venkataramana temple on Car Street in Mangaluru, where Shenoy was a devotee.

Shenoy’s bail application was rejected by the lower court. He later approached the High Court.

Plea on NEET disposed of
The High Court has refused to entertain the contentions of private medical colleges which had sought exemption for NRI students from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for MBBS seats under NRI quota.

A division bench comprising Justice Jayant Patel and Justice S N Satyanarayana disposed of a petition by Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation, Manipal University and MSR University. The bench, however, granted two weeks time to appeal before the Supreme Court and directed not to disturb the NRI students who were admitted up to August 25, 2016.

The petitioners had challenged the Medical Council of India (MCI) order making NEET mandatory for NRI students to get admission for MBBS courses under the NRI quota. They contended that the MCI communication came late. The petitioners had challenged Regulation 4 and 5 of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997, related to eligibility criteria, arguing that the matter was pending before the Apex Court.
  
The bench said that the requirement of passing NEET could not be dispensed with, in view of the amendment brought to the eligibility criteria under Regulation 4. The Apex Court has permitted NRI quota seats for the MBBS course, to be filled on the basis of merit and marks obtained in NEET.