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It has been contended that the High Court has failed to appreciate that the accused-respondent has been charged under the provisions of KCOCA, and was found allegedly involved in other cases
The Supreme Court on Monday, January 15, 2024, issued notice to the Karnataka government on a plea against the High Court's order granting bail to the accused in the case related to killing of activist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma sought a reply from the state government and accused Mohan Nayak N within four weeks on a special leave petition filed by Kavitha Lankesh, younger sister of the slain journalist.
Kavitha represented by Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi and Advocate Aparna Bhat sought cancellation of bail to the accused.
The petitioner, who is complainant in the case, has contended that the accused respondent has been charged under the provisions of KCOCA Section 22(4) which barres the court from releasing an accused on bail when there are no reasonable grounds to show the accused is not guilty.
"On the contrary, the case and investigation reveal ample evidence pointing to the guilt of Respondent No 2," Lankesh has claimed.
With regard to the delay in trial, it has been submitted that the High Court failed to consider that a Special Court has been set up by the State in order to conclude the trial in a speedy manner.
Out of the 86 witnesses who have been examined by the prosecution till now, approximately 30 witnesses have identified all the accused persons in the case including Respondent No. 2. Even though 530 witnesses are cited on behalf of the prosecution, the State intends to have given up on witnesses who are not material in nature and as such the prosecution is making every effort to conclude the trial at the earliest, the plea claimed.
The High Court has also failed to appreciate the role of Respondent No 2 in the crime which was related to taking a house on rent to lodge the members of the association and park a bike used in the commission of offence, the plea adds.
It also claimed the investigation undertaken by the SIT has revealed that Respondent No 2 is part of the syndicate led by Amol Kale which has committed multiple organised crimes apart from the murder of Gauri Lankesh, murders of Dr Narendra Dabolkar in Pune, Maharashtra in 2013, of Govinda Pansare at Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 2015, of Dr M M Kalburgi in 2015 in Dharwad and conspiracy to murder Prof Bhagavan of Mysore in 2018.
The Karnataka High Court had on December 7, 2023 granted bail to him. High Court had said the accused has been in jail for more than five years and there can't be fetters of the power to enlarge the petitioner on bail when there is undue delay in trial, which may not be completed anytime soon.
Lankesh, a leading journalist, was shot dead on September 05, 2017 outside her house at Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru.
On October 21, 2021, the apex court had set aside High Court's decision of April 22, 2021 to quash the charges under the stringent the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) against the accused Mohan Nayak.
The court had then held that the stringent provisions can be invoked against a member of the crime syndicate involved in organised crimes without two previous charge sheets against him.
Case Title: Kavitha Lankesh vs. State of Karnataka
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