Renukaswamy murder case: Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and others get bail from Karnataka High Court

On October 30, the high court had given Darshan conditional interim bail for six weeks to undergo spine surgery.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted conditional bail to actor Darshan Toogudeep Srinivas, accused number 2 in the Renukaswamy murder case. Justice S Vishwajith Shetty also granted bail to accused number 1 in the case Pavithra Gowda and other accused; R Nagaraju, Anu Kumar alias Anu, Lakshman M, Jagadeesh alias Jagga and Pradoosh S Rao.

The court has directed the petitioners to execute personal bond for a sum of Rs 1 lakh each with two sureties for the likesum.

“They shall appear regularly on all the dates of hearing before the trial court unless the trial court exempts their appearance for valid reasons. They shall not directly or indirectly threaten or tamper with the prosecution witnesses. They shall not be involved in similar offences in future. They shall not leave the jurisdiction of the trial court without permission of the said court until the case registered against them is disposed of,” the court said. The actor is on an interim bail granted by the high court on medical grounds since October 30, 2024.

Renukaswamy, who was working in a medical shop in Chitradurga, was found dead in Kamakshipalya police station limits on June 9, 2024. Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and others were arrested on June 11. The police had filed the charge against 17 accused persons for offences under IPC sections 120B, 364, 384, 355, 302, 201, 143, 147, 148, 149 and 34.

The court observed that the major offences alleged in the charge sheet are the offences punishable under sections 364 (kidnapping) and 302 (murder). The court noted that though the prosecution alleged conspiracy to kidnap and kill Renukaswamy, a reading of the statement of the witnesses do not prima facie reveal any such conspiracy by the accused. Justice Vishwajith Shetty also said that the court can only go into the question of prima facie case established for grant of bail and that the question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses can only be tested during the trial.

“The petitioners in these petitions do not have serious criminal antecedents. They are all persons with deep roots in the society. Petitioners are in custody for the last six months and the prosecution, in all, has cited 262 charge sheet witnesses and 587 documents are cited in 13 volumes along with the charge sheet. Therefore, chances of the trial being completed in the near future is very remote,” the court said, while granting bail both on the merits of the case and also on non-furnishing grounds of arrest on the accused, immediately after their arrest.

Background: The prosecution case is that deceased Renukaswamy had an Instagram account in the name of Gautam K S, and was sending obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda on her Instagram account from the month of February 2024. According to the chargesheet, on the instructions of Darshan and Pavithra Gowda, the deceased was kidnapped on June 8, 2024, by informing him that the actor wanted to speak to him. The deceased was brought to a shed at Pattanagere in Rajarajeshwarinagar and was allegedly assaulted with two twigs of a tree, wooden laati and nylon rope. His body was disposed of on the roadside next to a drain in Kamakshipalya police limits.