Karnataka HC directs actor Darshan’s co-accused in Renukaswamy murder case to be shifted back to Central Prison in Bengaluru
Pradosh Rao had secured a stay from the High Court, but by the time the order was issued, he was already being transferred to Belagavi Central Prison.
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Darshan, his friend Pavithra Gowda and 11 others were arrested in connection with the murder of his fan Renukaswamy. (PTI photo)The Karnataka High Court has directed that one of the co-accused alongside actor Darshan in the Renukaswamy murder case, Pradosh Rao, is to be shifted back to the Central Prison in Bengaluru. The court also expressed its concerns over his alleged placement in an “andheri (dark)” cell. The order was passed on October 1 by a bench consisting of Justice M Nagaprasanna.
In this case, the Chief Superintendent of the prison had submitted a requisition to transfer all the accused in the Renukaswamy murder case after photographs of actor Darshan allegedly drinking tea and smoking with a history-sheeter in the prison had emerged.
Rao had secured a stay from the High Court, but by the time the order was issued, he was already being transferred to Belagavi Central Prison.
Rao’s counsel in the present petition argued that he was not present with Darshan and the history sheeter but was at a distance inside a cell, and he was thus transferred without application of mind. It was also argued that he was lodged in the cell which was kept in darkness for 15 hours and that he was kept under observation through a camera for eight hours a day.
The state counsel denied that he was lodged in any such cell. It was also argued that the prisoners were shifted to communicate to society that the undertrials in this case were not being given any type of special treatment.
The bench took exception to housing him in a dark cell, stating, “The learned State Public Prosecutor seeks to defend the action by submitting that the name of the Cell is Andheri. ….The submission to say the least, is preposterous, as the pictures where the petitioner is housed show it to be No.12. Therefore, the lurking doubt of the wife who visited the petitioner appears to be correct, that he was placed in an Andheri Cell. The petitioner is still an under-trial prisoner. Placing an under-trial prisoner in an Andheri Cell is unknown to law, unless grave circumstances ensue. ”
Commenting on the shifting of the prison, the bench stated, “…the learned Magistrates ought to apply their mind. If shifting had to be at all done, it could be shifting of accused No.2, Darshan, as he who was in the scene, in the company of others, with a coffee sipping and cigarette. The petitioner who is away in some cell is penalized for the act of accused No.2.”
Noting that there was no allegation against Rao himself regarding this incident, the order shifting him to Belagavi was unsustainable as per principles laid down by the Supreme Court. The court ordered him to be shifted back to his original prison, with the caveat that this order was not to benefit any other accused in this case.
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