BENGALURU: Noting that the facts and circumstances of the case involving the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh indicate that the delay in ending the trial cannot be the reason for extending the benefit of bail, the Principal City Civil and Sessions Court declined to grant bail to Sujith Kumar alias Sujith SR, 37, who is accused No 13 in the case.
While rejecting the bail petition, Judge Muralidhara Pai B said the materials on record indicate that Sujith has been in judicial custody for quite some time and the trial is yet to be completed though it commenced on July 4, 2022. The prosecution has examined 119 of 527 witnesses. However, the prosecution is yet to come up with details of witnesses given up or dropped. Further, the state government has initiated action for the establishment of a special court for speedy trial in the case, he said.
Claiming that he has been in judicial custody since May 2018, Sujith stated that the prosecution has examined about 100 of 527 witnesses, and it is unlikely to complete the trial soon.
The prosecution opposed bail stating that six cases were registered against him, one each at Upparpet police station in Bengaluru, ATS Kala Chowki police station in Maharashtra and Davanagere Layout police station, and three cases in Udupi Town police station, in addition to this case. The records prima facie show that Sujith is facing charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act. Apart from examining 102 witnesses in this case, an equal number of witnesses have been dropped, the prosecution told the court.
Sujith is one of the 18 accused allegedly involved in Gauri’s murder on September 5, 2017. Sujith has been part of an organised crime syndicate since 2010 and he came in contact with other accused through Veerendra Thavde, who is involved in various cases. Sujith allegedly received cartridges from one of the accused, Naveen Kumar, and kept them to eliminate Gauri and other eminent personalities.