BENGALURU: The High Court of Karnataka has rejected a petition filed by actor Darshan and other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, seeking its direction to the sessions court to hear them on an application filed by Pradosh S Rao, accused No 14, seeking pardon by becoming an approver.
Noting that the co-accused do not have a right of audience relating to the application filed by Pradosh under Section 307 of the CrPC, the VIII Additional City Civil & Sessions Court, Bengaluru, on August 10 rejected the plea for permission by Darshan and others.
Challenging this, Darshan moved the high court. Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition. Citing the judgment passed in former minister Vinay Kulkarni’s case, the high court observed that the application filed by Pradosh would be dealt by the sessions court as per law in Kulkarni’s case. In Kulkarni’s case, the high court held that the co-accused have a right to question procedural illegalities in granting pardon, but not the order granting pardon on its merit.
Senior counsel Hasmath Pasha, who appeared for Darshan, argued before the sessions court that the co-accused have a right to be heard before deciding the application filed by Pradosh seeking pardon. However, special public prosecutor Prasanna Kumar P opposed it.
The statute does not confer upon every co-accused a right to participate in or to be heard in such proceedings as a matter of course. More importantly, the grant of pardon does not deprive the co-accused of their substantive right to defend themselves during the trial.