The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to four individuals accused of conspiring to murder journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh. Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty recently passed the order, releasing the accused—Bharat Jayawant Kurane (Accused No. 6) from Belagavi district, Srikanth Pangarkar (Accused No. 9) from Maharashtra, Sujith Kumar (Accused No. 13) from Shivamogga district, and Sudhanva Gondhalekar (Accused No. 16) from Maharashtra—under specific conditions.
These individuals had been in judicial custody since 2018, having been charged under the Indian Arms Act, the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, and various sections of the IPC by the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police in 2017.
The High Court’s decision was influenced by a previous Supreme Court ruling, which emphasized that if the trial is delayed for reasons not attributable to the accused, bail may be granted unless there are significant reasons to withhold it. Referring to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of petitions challenging bail for Mohan Nayak N (Accused No. 11), who was also involved in the conspiracy, the High Court noted that the prosecution still has to examine around 100 chargesheet witnesses, and the petitioners stand in a similar position.
