HC grants bail to three prime accused in Pansare murder case

Pansare, a veteran Communist Party of India leader, author, and social reformer, was shot by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants near his home in Kolhapur on February 20, 2015

MUMBAI: The Kolhapur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three prime accused in the 2015 murder of communist leader Govind Pansare. The single judge bench of justice Shivkumar Dige emphasised that prolonged incarceration without trial could not be justified indefinitely, and said the three arrested accused – Dr Vinrendrasinh Tawade, Sharad Kalaskar and Amol Kale – would have to furnish new sureties for availing bail.

Pansare’s murder sparked outrage and protests across Maharashtra

Kalaskar, however, will not come out of jail, as he has been convicted in the 2013 murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar.

Pansare, a veteran Communist Party of India leader, author, and social reformer, was shot by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants near his home in Kolhapur on February 20, 2015. He succumbed to his injuries four days later, sparking outrage across Maharashtra and leading to a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The probe linked Pansare’s murder with killings of other rationalists in different parts of the country, including Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013, and Professor MM Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka in 2015 and 2017, respectively. It was alleged that all the murders were part of a broader right-wing conspiracy to eliminate rationalist voices. Tawade, an ENT surgeon from Panvel, was among the first to be arrested for Dabholkar’s murder, followed by Sharad Kalaskar. Both were later arrested in connection with the Pansare murder case, alongside several others.

Before the Kolahpur bench, the counsel for the accused, advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, said the high court had granted bail to six other accused in the case in January and denying his client parity would be unjustified. The prosecution, however, maintained that Tawade was the ideological and logistical link connecting the Pansare and Dabholkar murders. Releasing him could jeopardise witness safety and undermine the integrity of the trial, the prosecution argued.

The counsel appearing for the Pansare family, advocate Amit Singh, urged the court to stay the bail order, also arguing that Tawade was the key conspirator and that his release could hamper the ongoing trial

Justice Dige, however, declined the request, observing that once bail was granted, the order could not be stayed merely on apprehensions. It also emphasised that prolonged incarceration without trial could not be justified indefinitely.

The court directed the accused to furnish new sureties for availing bail, rejecting a request from the defence counsel to allow continuation of previous sureties.

While the detailed reasoning behind the court’s order is awaited, the Pansare family has expressed disappointment over the decision and is expected to challenge it before the high court.