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The Supreme Court on Thursday, August 14, cancelled the bail granted to Kannada actor Darshan by the Karnataka High Court in the Renukaswamy murder case, describing the High Court’s order as “perverse” and “wholly unwarranted.” The actor will now be lodged in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Prison.
The Karnataka government had challenged the High Court’s December 2024 order granting bail to Darshan, who is accused of involvement in the murder of 33-year-old pharmacist Renukaswamy over obscene messages allegedly sent to actor Pavithra Gowda.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had reserved the judgement on July 24. The apex court held that the High Court granted bail “in a mechanical manner” and that its decision suffered from “serious legal infirmity” and was an “arbitrary exercise” of discretion.
The judges said the High Court had ventured into evaluating witness statements, a task meant for the trial court, before deciding on bail. Justice Pardiwala said that “no man is above the law” and warned that no special treatment should be given to Darshan in custody. “The day we come to know that the accused are being given five-star treatment in jail premises, we will place the jail superintendent under suspension,” he said, cautioning authorities not to allow smoking or drinking in prison.
The apex court had earlier, on July 17, expressed dissatisfaction with the way the High Court exercised its discretion, remarking that its order “basically dictated an acquittal” for the accused. Darshan had earlier been granted interim bail on medical grounds on October 30, 2024, before being given regular bail along with Pavithra Gowda and five others in December.
Renukaswamy, a resident of Chitradurga, was allegedly abducted on June 8, 2024, tortured for three days in a Bengaluru shed, and his body dumped in a stormwater drain. Police have filed a 3,991-page chargesheet naming 17 accused in the case.