Karnataka government 'respectfully welcomes' court's decision granting bail to Darshan: D K Shivakumar

The Karnataka high court on Wednesday granted interim bail for six weeks to jailed actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the government "respectfully welcomes" the decision of the High Court granting interim bail to actor Darshan Thoogudeepa in a murder case.

Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa.

"I will not question the verdict of the court. The government will respectfully welcome the decision of the court," he told reporters here in response to a question. In a relief to Darshan, an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, the Karnataka High Court granted him interim bail on medical grounds for a period of six weeks, to undergo a spine surgery.

The 47-year-old was arrested on June 11 and is lodged in Ballari prison. His friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 others are co-accused in the case. Pavithra is lodged in Bengaluru prison, and others in various jails of the state; some of them have recently secured bail.

The Karnataka high court on Wednesday granted interim bail for six weeks to jailed actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.

Single-judge Justice S Vishwajith Shetty allowed the interim bail application filed by Darshan Thoogudeepa to enable him to undergo a surgery.

Justice S Vishwajith Shetty had reserved the order on Tuesday on the interim bail application after hearing detailed arguments from the actor’s legal representative, senior advocate CV Nagesh, and state public prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar.

The state presented medical reports in a sealed cover from doctors at Ballari Central Prison, where Darshan Thoogudeepa is lodged, and the head of the department of neurology at a government hospital in Ballari.

Renukaswamy murder

33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of Darshan, had sent obscene messages to his friend Pavithra Gowda (a co-accused in the case), which enraged the Kannada actor, allegedly leading to his murder.

Renukaswamy's body was found near a storm water drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli on June nine. Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar in Bengaluru, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.