Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is currently in judicial custody for the murder of Chitradurga native Renukaswamy, was denied bail by the Supreme Court. Instead, the apex court set a one-year timeframe for the trial after his petition cited delays in witness examination.
Darshan reportedly approached the Supreme Court seeking bail. His petition cited that he was being intimidated and harassed by fellow inmates while being restricted to confinement in a quarantine cell. The jail authorities are not permitting him to meet family members in spite of his health issues. He also lamented the lack of facilities in prison, local media reports said.
After hearing arguments from Darshan’s lawyers and the Special Public Prosecutor, the Supreme Court said that the trial would be given one year to progress, and stated that if at least 60 witness examinations were not completed within that period, it would reconsider the bail application. This could effectively keep him behind bars for at least another year, the report said.
Darshan can apply for bail only after that period, and even then, there is no guarantee he will receive it. The decision would depend on the circumstances at that time, TV9 Kannada said in a report. It was senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for Darshan, the report added.
The court also directed that the accused should be given the same facilities provided to other prisoners. However, the bench said it would not issue any specific direction or order regarding his placement in the quarantine cell.
In August last year, the Supreme Court cancelled Darshan's bail plea. “Whosoever he may be, howsoever high, he is not above the rule of law,” the court stated back then while cancelling the bail of Darshan and six others.
The State Government had filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court's decision to grant the actor regular bail. A bench of Justices J. B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan observed that the "well-founded allegations, coupled with forensic evidence, reinforce the cancellation of bail" in connection with the torture and murder of a fan.
What led to the abduction and murder of Renukaswamy?
A fan of the actor, Renukaswamy, had sent obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda for her role in allegedly derailing the actor's family. A furious Gowda wanted Darshan to act, and upon his order, the actor's henchmen identified and abducted Renukaswamy.
Raghavendra, one of the accused and a member of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R. R. Nagar on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. In an auto-rickshaw, Renukaswamy was taken from the outskirts of Chitradurga to a shed in Bengaluru's R. R. Nagar.
Once he was told about the abduction, Darshan and Pavithra joined the co-accused at the shed and started assaulting Renukaswamy. Pavithra hit him repeatedly with her footwear, it was found during the probe. Renukaswamy was assaulted for hours and even administered electric shocks to his genitals. He bled profusely as the gang took turns attacking him for hours, the report said. According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.
