The Karnataka High Court on October 8 granted bail to six fans of Darshan Thoogudeepa arrested for allegedly sending abusive messages and threats to actress and former Congress MP Ramya, who had commented that "all are equal before law" after the Supreme Court set aside the bail granted to the Kannada actor in the Renukaswamy murder case. A bench of Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar granted bail to the six accused people, stating that their custodial interrogation was not required in the case. The bench observed, "The said coloured sexual remarks [are] alleged to have been made by the petitioners by using their Instagram account. The phones of [the] accused persons have been seized and sent to FSL for examination. Considering the same, the custodial interrogation of petitioners is not required. The Additional SPP has submitted that [the] chargesheet has been filed, and considering the same, the presence of these petitioners is not required for investigation." The bench also took into account the youth of the accused while granting them bail. Ramya had been vocal about the Renukaswamy case in which Darshan, his friend Pavithra Gowda, and others are accused of murdering a man who had allegedly sent objectionable messages to Gowda. The actress made social media comments after the Supreme Court set aside the bail granted by the high court to Darshan. Darshan fans who allegedly sent the abusive messages to Ramya were booked under sections of the Information Technology Act as well as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to criminal intimidation, sexual harassment, and words intended to outrage the modesty of a woman. The counsel for the Darshan fans contended that all the charges except for sexual harassment, which attracted only a one-year sentence, were bailable. They also submitted that, as per Supreme Court precedent, there could not be an arrest without grounds in cases where the punishment is imprisonment for fewer than seven years. Other contentions raised included the youth of the accused, the facts that there could not be evidence tampering as the interaction was online and that since the complainant was an influential person, there would be no question of there being a threat to her. Opposing the bail pleas, the state counsel argued that there were serious allegations against the accused including threats of rape and murder, adding that there was a possibility of witness tampering or further threats. The court granted bail, directing the actor’s fans to deposit a bond of Rs 1 lakh, cooperate with the investigation, and appear before the jurisdictional court on prescribed dates.
