Gauri Lankesh murder case: Karnataka High Court grants bail to 4 more accused

Lankesh was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on the night of September 5, 2017, outside her house in Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) identified a total of 18 accused/suspects, including the mastermind Amol Kale, the shooter Parashuram Waghmare, and Ganesh Miskin, who rode the motorcycle. The accused were booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Arms Act, and the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act.

The court observed that the four specific accused were admittedly not at the crime scene but were accused of conspiring and arranging vehicles and firearms. It had granted bail to another group of accused against whom similar allegations were laid. It also noted that they had been in custody for six years.

The court relied on several Supreme Court judgments to come to a conclusion. “The reason is that the constitutional mandate is the higher law, and it is the basic right of the person charged of an offence and not convicted, that he be ensured and given a speedy trial. When the trial is not proceeding for reasons not attributable to the accused, the court, unless there are good reasons, may well be guided to exercise the power to grant bail. This would be truer where the trial would take years.”

The bench observed further that a previous bail order to an accused in this case had been challenged in the Supreme Court, which had dismissed the challenge while noting that 100 chargesheet witnesses still remained to be examined. The accused were directed to furnish a bond of Rs 1 lakh each with two sureties, appear on trial court dates, avoid tampering with witnesses, and remain in the trial court’s jurisdiction. The court stated that the prosecution could seek cancellation of bail if said conditions are violated.