[Gauri Lankesh Murder Case] Apex Court Rejects Plea To Cancel Bail To Accused

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The bench, comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, noted that Nayak had been in custody since July 18, 2018, and had cooperated with the trial court. They highlighted that over 100 witnesses still needed to be examined and declined to intervene in the High Court’s order.

[Gauri Lankesh Murder Case] Apex Court Dismisses Plea to Cancel Bail to Accused

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India rejected a plea against the Karnataka High Court’s decision to grant bail to Mohan Nayak N, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru.

The bench, comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, noted that Nayak had been in custody since July 18, 2018, and had cooperated with the trial court. They highlighted that over 100 witnesses still needed to be examined and declined to intervene in the High Court’s order.

“The bench stated in its August 21 order that if the respondent-accused fails to cooperate, seeks unnecessary adjournments, or violates any conditions, the State of Karnataka or the complainant is free to request a cancellation of bail. Any such application, if submitted, will be considered based on its merits and in accordance with the law.”

Both the Karnataka government and Gauri Lankesh’s sister, Kavitha Lankesh, had challenged the High Court’s decision from December 7, 2023, which had granted bail due to the prolonged detention and delays in trial completion.

[Gauri Lankesh Murder Case] Apex Court Rejects Plea to Cancel Bail to Accused

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the state, revealed that while 137 witnesses had been examined and 137 dropped, the prosecution was likely to drop an additional 150 witnesses, leaving around 100 yet to testify.

Although the bench upheld the High Court’s bail order, it instructed the trial court to expedite proceedings. The Court emphasized that if the accused failed to cooperate or violated bail conditions, the state or complainant could seek bail cancellation.

“The High Court has ignored the law laid down by this court on multiple occasions, holding that in a successive bail application, the question required to be looked into is the change of circumstances alone since the co-ordinate bench has already held that the petitioner is not entitled to bail,”

the state government had said.

Lankesh, a prominent journalist and activist, was killed on September 5, 2017, outside her Bengaluru home. Previously, in 2021, the Supreme Court reinstated charges under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) against Nayak, despite a High Court decision to quash them.

Nayak was accused of being part of a criminal syndicate led by Amol Kale, which was implicated in several organized crimes, including Lankesh’s murder. The Karnataka Government argued that the High Court’s bail order contradicted established legal precedents and should be set aside.

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