The Karnataka government on Monday, January 6, filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, challenging the Karnataka High Court’s decision to grant bail to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and others in the Renukaswamy murder case.
The move follows an order issued by Somanatha, the first Additional Solicitor and Ex-officio Deputy Secretary to the Home Department, sanctioning the filing of the SLP. The government has appointed senior advocate Anil C Nishani to prepare the petition and senior counsel Siddarth Luthra to argue the case before the apex court.
Darshan, accused number two in the case, was initially granted interim bail on medical grounds on October 30, after spending 131 days in judicial custody. On December 13, the High Court granted regular bail to him and Pavithra Gowda, accused number one in the case. All other accused have also been released on bail since.
The Bengaluru police filed a 3,991-page chargesheet in September, naming 17 accused in connection with the murder of Renukaswamy. The list includes 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).
Actor Darshan and his partner Pavithra Gowda are accused of orchestrating the murder of Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old pharmacist from Chitradurga, who was found dead near a stormwater drain in Bengaluru. Renukaswamy allegedly sent derogatory messages to Pavithra Gowda.
