Renukaswamy murder case: SC pulls up high court over bail to Darshan; calls ruling a ‘perverse exercise of discretion’ | India News
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the Karnataka high court’s handling of the Renukaswamy murder case, in which actor and prime accused Darshan was granted bail.Justice JB Pardiwala questioned whether this is a common practice, where bail orders effectively resemble judgments of acquittal, suggesting a questionable use of judicial discretion.During the hearing of the Karnataka government’s plea, seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Darshan, Justice Pardiwala observed that the way the Karnataka high court dealt with the bail application was “a question of perverse prima facie exercise of discretion”.“In a lighter vein, don’t you think the High Court has basically dictated an order acquittal of all seven? There are ways and ways of assigning reasons. The manner in which the High Court has dictated the order, very sorry to say, but does the High Court dictate same type of orders in all bail applications?” Justice Pardiwala was quoted as observing by Live Law.He further said: “What is troubling us is the approach of the High Court! Look at the manner in which bail application is [dealt] and in the last, and says he says grounds of arrest not assigned in 302 matter?! That is the understanding of the learned judge? And that too from the High Court? We can understand a session judge committing such mistakes. A High Court judge committing such a mistake?” Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Darshan, argued that the high court’s findings were preliminary and were not going to bind the trial. “It is a question of perverse prima facie exercise of discretion. We are trying to examine, while exercising discretion, has the high court applied its mind judiciously? That’s a matter of concern,” Justice Pardiwala responded to Dave.Last year in December the high court granted bail to Darshan Toogudeep Srinivas, listed as accused number 2 in the Renukaswamy murder case. Bail was also granted to co-accused Pavithra Gowda (accused number 1), Nagaraju, Anu Kumar, Lakshman, Jagadeesh alias Jagga, and R Pradoosh Rao. What’s the case?Renukaswamy, a medical shop employee from Chitradurga, was allegedly abducted and killed on June 8 at a shed in Pattanagere, within the RR Nagar police limits of Bengaluru. The crime surfaced the following day when a security guard at a nearby apartment complex discovered the body. According to the prosecution, the accused detained Renukaswamy in the shed, subjected him to torture, and then murdered him before dumping his body in a storm-water drain.
