Gauri Lankesh murder: Bail granted to all arrested

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: One of the accused, Sharad Bahusaheb Kalaskar was granted bail on Friday in the murder case of journalist Gauri Lankesh. With this, all the accused arrested in the Gauri case, have been granted bail. After hearing the application filed by the accused Kalaskar, Judge Muralidhar Pai of the Principal City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru granted him bail. He also said that all the accused arrested in the Gauri Lankesh case have been granted bail, and that the applicant Kalaskar is being granted bail on similar grounds.

The Supreme Court has held in several cases that the right to life is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The personal right of the accused cannot be taken away while the trial is pending against them. The Supreme Court has held that unnecessary delay would curtail the right to life. Therefore, the petitioners, who have been in custody since September 4, 2018, can be granted bail, the judge said. The prosecution lawyers expressed their concern that the witnesses would be threatened and requested that bail be denied. However, the names of the witnesses in the case have been hidden from the accused. There is no fear of destroying such witnesses, the judge said. Also, 164 witnesses have already been examined.

Most of the remaining witnesses are police officers, including officers from other departments. Therefore, the prosecution's concern cannot be considered in the order, said the judge. The judge while granting bail, stating that a bond of Rs. 2 lakh and two sureties should be given.The applicant was accused of being a member of an organized crime group, training other accused in the use of pistols, air guns, and karate.

The accused were booked under IPC 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 118 (cooperation in an act punishable with life imprisonment), 304 (punishment for murder), Indian Arms Act, Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act. There are a total 18 accused in the case, and the 15th accused, Vikas Patel alias Dada alias Nihal, is absconding.