BENGALURU: Former minister and Congress MLA from Dharwad assembly constituency Vinay Kulkarni and 16 others were convicted on Wednesday in the 2016 murder case of Zilla Panchayat member Yogesh Goudar. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Thursday.
Kulkarni had given supari (contract) to other convicts as he shared personal enmity and political rivalry with Goudar.
Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, judge of Special Court for sitting and former MPs/MLAs, convicted 17 accused on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, causing disappearance of evidence or providing false information and others. However, the court acquitted Kulkarni and another accused, Chandrashekar Indi, of charges under the Arms Act.
As many as 21 persons were named in the case while accused number 1 Basavaraj and accused No. 17 Shivanada Shrishaila Biradar had turned approvers. The court acquitted accused No. 20 Vasudev and accused No. 21 Somashekhar Nyamagoud, giving them the benefit of doubt.
BJP leader Yogesh Goudar, a Dharwad Zilla Panchayat member, was murdered on June 15, 2016. A group of assailants had hacked him to death after throwing chilli powder on his face at a gym in Saptapur, Dharwad.
Following the initial investigation, the state police filed a chargesheet against six persons in September 2016. The trial based on this chargesheet was conducted between 2017 and 2019. However, in 2019, the then BJP state government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further probe. After investigation, the CBI arrested Kulkarni and filed a chargesheet against 21 persons, including him, citing 113 witnesses in the case, in 2020. Kulkarni was named as Accused No. 15.
The trial began on April 1, 2021, and continued for nearly six years. During this period, the court examined witnesses, questioned the accused, and reviewed technical reports.
The CBI stated in its chargesheet that Kulkarni was the conspirator behind the murder, allegedly driven by political rivalry with Yogesh Goudar, and that he had hired contract killers to eliminate him. The MLA was nursing grudge against the Goudar, who had declined the request to step back from contesting the Zilla Panchayath(ZP) election in 2016.
In August 2021, Kulkarni was granted bail by the Supreme Court. However, in June 2025, the apex court cancelled his bail after finding material related to witness tampering and attempts to influence prosecution witnesses. In 2026, Kulkarni sought bail from the High Court, which was rejected. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court in February 2026 after the court noted that all witnesses had been examined.
All the accused were later taken to the Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara under tight security.
The court also directed the Registrar of the City Civil Court to initiate perjury proceedings under Section 340 of the CrPC against police officers Shivananda Chalavadi and Babu Katagi, as well as Shankaragouda Basanagouda Patil and other independent witnesses, including Dr. Dattatreya Gudaganti, Anand Irappa Uddannavar, Vinayaka Binjiyavar, Mohan Echarappa Mulmuttal, Vivekananda Dalawai, Natraj Sari Desai, and Vijay Kulkarni.
The court also gave liberty to the prosecution to file necessary application seeking sanction to prosecute the approver turned witness Shivanand Shrishaila Biradar, who had turned hostile before the court.