Renukaswamy murder case: SC frowns upon Karnataka High Court granting bail to Kannada actor Darshan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its reservation over the Karnataka High Court granting bail to Kannada actor Darshan in Renukaswamy murder case.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said it was “not at all convinced” by the manner in which the high court exercised its discretion.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Karnataka government led by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate Anil C Nishani challenging the high court’s December 13, 2024 bail order relating to Darshan and other co-accused.

“To be very honest with you, we are not convinced with the manner in which the High Court has exercised discretion. Very honestly, we will say this,” the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Darshan.

“We will hear you because your clients are on bail. But you must have seen the manner in which the High Court dictated the order,” the bench said.

The court fixed the matter for consideration on July 22.

During the brief hearing, Luthra contended the respondent accused was seen with a key witness on a stage which was a little disturbing. Sibal, however, countered the submission.

Darshan, a 47-year-old Kannada 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 Bengaluru on June 9, 2024.

According to the police, Renukaswamy had allegedly sent obscene messages to Darshan’s associate, Pavithra Gowda, which enraged the actor.

Police investigation led to the arrest of actor Darshan, his close friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 other associates.

The Bengaluru Police also filed a charge sheet on September 3 naming Pavithra as accused number 1 and Darshan as the accused number 2. Police claimed that Renukaswamy's act of sending offensive messages to Pavithra was the motive of the offence.

The others named in the charge sheet were Pawan K, 29; Raghavendra, 43; Nandish, 28; Jagadish, 36; Anukumar, 25; Ravi Shankar, 32; Dhanraj D, 27; Vinay V, 38; Nagaraju, 41; Laxman, 54; Deepak, 39; Pradosh, 40; Karthik, 27; Keshavamurthy, 27, and Nikhil Nayak, 21.

The actor was first granted interim bail on medical grounds on October 30, 2024.

All the 17 accused are currently out on bail.