Renukaswamy Murder Case: SC Cancels Bail to Actor Darshan, Says ‘No One Above the Law’

The Bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan held that the High Court’s December 2024 order suffered from “serious legal infirmities” and amounted to a “mechanical exercise of discretion” without recording any special or cogent reasons for granting bail in a case involving grave charges under the Indian Penal Code.

Pronouncing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Mahadevan said the High Court had impermissibly examined witness statements at the pre-trial stage, highlighting contradictions and delays that were matters for the trial court to assess during cross-examination. Granting bail in such a case without properly considering the nature of the offence, the accused’s role, and the risk of interference with the trial, he said, was “wholly unwarranted.”

“The liberty granted under the impugned order poses a real and imminent threat to the fair administration of justice,” the Court observed, invoking its extraordinary powers under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to cancel the bail. It stressed that “no individual is shielded from legal accountability by virtue of status or social capital” and that Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality before the law.

Justice Pardiwala, concurring, called the ruling “ineffable” and said it conveyed a “very strong message” that no one, however big or small, is above the law. “Obedience to the law is demanded as a right, not asked as a favour. The need of the hour is to maintain the rule of law at all times,” he said, warning that any special treatment or “five-star service” to accused persons in jail would invite immediate suspension of the jail superintendent and involved officials.

The Court directed that the trial be conducted expeditiously and clarified that its observations were confined to the issue of bail and would not influence the trial on merits.

The Court also directed the registry to supply copies of the judgment to all High Courts and State governments.

On July 24, the Bench had reserved its judgment in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the State, represented by Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra along with Advocates Anil C Nishani and D L Chidananda.

During earlier hearings, the Court had come down heavily on the High Court’s bail order, observing that the manner in which it was pronounced “looked like a case of acquittal” and terming it a “perverse prima facie exercise of discretion.”

The Apex Court had also questioned the High Court for raising doubts over the grounds of arrest in a murder case, remarking, “What is troubling is the reasoning given, especially saying the grounds of arrest were not mentioned in a case of murder.” On July 17, the Bench had said it was “not at all convinced” by the High Court’s exercise of discretion in granting bail.

Notably, in January this year state of Karnataka had moved the Supreme Court of India against bail granted to Darshan.

In December last year, the Karnataka High Court's single judge bench of Justice S Vishwajith Shetty had granted bail to the Kannada actor and his partner Pavithra Gowda. Karnataka filed an SLP before the Supreme Court challenging the relief granted to Darshan who was arrested from Mysuru on June 11, 2024.

Darshan, 47, was arrested on June 11, 2024, in connection with the murder of 33-year-old Renukaswamy, whose body was found near a stormwater drain in Bengaluru on June 9, 2024. Police allege that the victim had sent obscene messages to Darshan’s close associate, Pavithra Gowda, provoking the actor.

The chargesheet filed on September 3 names Pavithra as accused number 1 and Darshan as accused number 2, along with 15 other associates. The accused list includes Pawan K, Raghavendra, Nandish, Jagadish, Anukumar, Ravi Shankar, Dhanraj D, Vinay V, Nagaraju, Laxman, Deepak, Pradosh, Karthik, Keshavamurthy, and Nikhil Nayak.

Darshan was first granted interim bail on medical grounds on October 30, 2024. All 17 accused are presently out on bail.

Case Title: State of Karnataka v. Shri Darshan