<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bombay-high-court">Bombay High Court</a> on Wednesday granted bail to Sharad Kalaskar, a convict in the murder case of rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar in 2013.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale granted him bail on a surety of Rs 50,000.</p>.Bombay High Court dismisses plea of man acquitted in 26/11 terror case for police clearance to ply autorickshaw.<p>The detailed order copy will be available later.</p>.<p>The prosecution sought that the court stay the operation of its order, but it was refused.</p>.<p>Kalaskar is also facing trial for the killing of communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare. In October last year, the high court granted him bail in the case.</p>.<p>With having secured bail in the Dabholkar case, Kalaskar can now walk out of jail after completing the bail formalities.</p>.<p>Dabholkar, 67, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an anti-superstition organisation, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants while on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.</p>.<p>Initially, the case was probed by the local police, but following a petition filed in the HC by his daughter Mukta Dabholkar, the investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014.</p>.<p>On May 10, 2024, a sessions court convicted Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar for Dabholkar's murder, sentencing them to life in prison.</p>.<p>However, they were acquitted of charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act.</p>.<p>The court had also acquitted Virendra Singh Tawde, Sanjiv Punalekar, and Vikram Bhave, citing insufficient evidence.</p>.<p>Kalaskar challenged his conviction before the high court. Pending a hearing in his appeal, he sought bail through lawyer Shubhada Khot.</p>.<p>Mukta Dabholkar had also filed an appeal before the HC, challenging the acquittals and the exclusion of UAPA charges against Andure and Kalaskar.</p>.Parrots are 'wild animals', rules Bombay High Court; orders Maharashtra govt to compensate farmer for crop damage.<p>Her plea claimed the murder was part of a larger conspiracy by right-wing extremists.</p>.<p>Dabholkar's murder was the first in a chain of similar killings of three other rationalists and activists -- Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015, Kannada-language scholar MM Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017. </p>
<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bombay-high-court">Bombay High Court</a> on Wednesday granted bail to Sharad Kalaskar, a convict in the murder case of rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar in 2013.</p>.<p>A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale granted him bail on a surety of Rs 50,000.</p>.Bombay High Court dismisses plea of man acquitted in 26/11 terror case for police clearance to ply autorickshaw.<p>The detailed order copy will be available later.</p>.<p>The prosecution sought that the court stay the operation of its order, but it was refused.</p>.<p>Kalaskar is also facing trial for the killing of communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare. In October last year, the high court granted him bail in the case.</p>.<p>With having secured bail in the Dabholkar case, Kalaskar can now walk out of jail after completing the bail formalities.</p>.<p>Dabholkar, 67, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an anti-superstition organisation, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants while on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.</p>.<p>Initially, the case was probed by the local police, but following a petition filed in the HC by his daughter Mukta Dabholkar, the investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014.</p>.<p>On May 10, 2024, a sessions court convicted Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar for Dabholkar's murder, sentencing them to life in prison.</p>.<p>However, they were acquitted of charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act.</p>.<p>The court had also acquitted Virendra Singh Tawde, Sanjiv Punalekar, and Vikram Bhave, citing insufficient evidence.</p>.<p>Kalaskar challenged his conviction before the high court. Pending a hearing in his appeal, he sought bail through lawyer Shubhada Khot.</p>.<p>Mukta Dabholkar had also filed an appeal before the HC, challenging the acquittals and the exclusion of UAPA charges against Andure and Kalaskar.</p>.Parrots are 'wild animals', rules Bombay High Court; orders Maharashtra govt to compensate farmer for crop damage.<p>Her plea claimed the murder was part of a larger conspiracy by right-wing extremists.</p>.<p>Dabholkar's murder was the first in a chain of similar killings of three other rationalists and activists -- Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015, Kannada-language scholar MM Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017. </p>