MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to six accused in the case of murder of CPI leader and rationalist Govind Pansare in 2015, on the ground of long incarceration.
A single bench of Justice AS Kilor allowed the bail pleas of the six accused -- Sachin Andure, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degvekar, Amit Baddi, Bharat Kurane and Vasudev Suryavanshi. They were arrested between 2018 and 2019, and have been in jail since then.
“I am allowing the bail pleas of the six accused on account of long incarceration,” Justice Kilor said. He concluded the hearing on the bail pleas on December 12, 2024.
Justice Kilor said he would hear separately the bail plea filed by another accused — Virendrasinh Tawade.
Advocate Siddh Vidya, who represented the accused, said, “The court granted bail to all my clients on the ground of long incarceration. The court has also noted the fact that as on date at least 250 witnesses are yet to be examined, which would mean that the trial would not be concluded in near future.”
Pansare (82) and his wife Uma were returning home from their morning walk in Kolhapur when two motorbike-borne men fired multiple rounds at them before fleeing on February 16, 2015. While his wife survived the attack, the CPI leader died at a Mumbai hospital four days later.
Initially, the case was handled by Rajarampuri police station in Kolhapur. The investigation was later transferred to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under supervision of the ADG (CID), Maharashtra.
Dissatisfied with the lack of progress in tracing the shooters, Pansare’s family had sought the case’s transfer to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
On August 3, 2022, the High Court transferred the probe to the ATS, observing there was “no headway” or “breakthrough” in the case.
Of the 12 accused identified, 10 have been arrested, and four supplementary chargesheets filed. The trial against these 10 accused is on. Two shooters in the case are still absconding. The accused are linked to a radical right-wing outfit called Sanatan Sanstha and its affiliates, according to the ATS.