BENGALURU: The Principal City Civil and Sessions Court on Wednesday granted bail to Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar, accused number 10 in journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder case. With this, all 17 accused persons facing trial in the case are now out on bail.
Judge Muralidhara Pai B granted bail to Kalaskar on grounds of parity, observing that the accused had been in custody since September 4, 2018, and that completing the trial within a short span of time seemed unlikely.
Noting that all the accused facing trial in the case, except the petitioner (Kalaskar), are on bail, the judge stated that the petitioner is entitled to bail even on the ground of parity.
“The petitioner is in custody in the case since September 4, 2018. In several decisions, the apex court has repeatedly held that speedy trial is a fundamental right implicit in the broad sweep and content of Article 21 of the Constitution, and that if the period of deprivation of personal liberty pending trial becomes unduly long, the fairness assured by Article 21 of the Constitution would receive a jolt,” the judge observed.
Of the total 18 accused in the case, one of them, Vikas Patil, is still absconding and yet to be arrested. Trial against the remaining 17 accused has started.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants outside her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station limits on the night of September 5, 2017.
During the hearing, the prosecution argued that the accused is a habitual offender and convict who has served a life imprisonment sentence for another crime. The prosecution also contended that the accused are members of an organized crime syndicate with an ideology aimed at establishing a Hindu Rashtra through rebellion. This syndicate, reportedly formed in 2010-11, is described as secretive and unnamed. The prosecution further alleged that the accused had undergone arms training and learned to make crude bombs.