Mumbai: The Supreme Court of India has rejected the bail plea of Kannada actor Darshan, who along with his partner Pavithra Gowda, are the key accused in the fan murder case.
The Supreme Court overturned the Karnataka High Court’s decision. While the High Court had granted him bail, the Supreme Court rejected the plea.
A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan delivered the verdict to revoke Darshan’s bail.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court had objected to the High Court’s order, remarking that the High Court had passed a decision on bail as if it were deciding conviction or acquittal.
The Supreme Court questioned whether the High Court gives such orders in other cases as well and added that they will not “repeat such a mistake.”
The Supreme Court also said that, in this case, there was a prima facie misuse of judicial power. Such an error by a lower court judge might still be acceptable, but it is not right for a High Court judge to make such a mistake.
On June 9, 33-year-old auto driver Renukaswamy was found dead on a flyover in Bengaluru.
Renukaswamy was a fan of Darshan. It is alleged that, at Darshan’s behest, he was kidnapped and then murdered.
It is said that Renukaswamy was killed because he had been harassing Darshan’s female friend, Pavitra Gowda.
The incident took place in Pattangere village, Bengaluru. It is alleged that Renukaswamy was beaten to death, and Darshan was informed of his death via WhatsApp.
On August 6, Darshan and Pavithra Gowda had requested the Supreme Court not to cancel the bail. They submitted written statements to the Supreme Court, contending why their bail should not be cancelled.
In his submission, made through his counsel, Darshan claimed that there is no evidence linking him to the crime, while Gowda said that she is a single parent of a daughter studying in Class 10 and also needs to take care of her aged parents.
