Bombay HC grants bail to man accused in Dr Dabholkar’s murder case

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted bail to Vikram Bhave – an accused in rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s murder case – on furnishing a bond of ₹1 lakh

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted bail to Vikram Bhave – an accused in rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s murder case – on furnishing a bond of ₹1 lakh. While granting the bail, the court expressed its doubts over the material collected by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to connect the 37-year-old with the crime.

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“We have proceeded on the basis of the material on which respondent No 2 [CBI] has placed emphasis and we find that the same does not appear to show reasonable grounds to conclude that the accusations levelled against the appellant [Bhave] can be said to be prima facie true,” said the division bench of justice Sambhaji Shinde and justice Manish Pitale court while granting him bail.

Dr Dabholkar was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on August 20, 2013, in Pune, when he was out on morning walk. Initially, an offence was registered by the Deccan police station in connection with the murder, and on May 9, 2014, the case was transferred for CBI for further investigation.

According to CBI, Virendrasingh Tavade of Sanatan Sanstha is the key accused in the case, while Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure are the assailants who shot Dr Dabholkar. Kalaskar said Bhave had helped him and Andure conduct a recce of the area where the rationalist was fatally attacked. Kalaskar also claimed that Bhave had also helped the duo identify the escape route after the attack. Bhave was subsequently arrested on September 25, 2019.

The special court at Pune rejected his bail plea last year on September 15, following which Bhave moved HC, contending that there was no material to connect him to the crime.

In support of its case against Bhave, CBI counsel, advocate Sandesh Patil, relied on Kalaskar’s confessional statement, recorded in the murder case of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in Karnataka. In his confessional statement, Kalaskar had named Bhave as an accused in Dr Dabholkar’s case. CBI also claimed before HC that Kalaskar had identified Bhave on the basis of his photograph as the person who had helped him and Andure conduct the recce and had also pointed at him during the scene recreation.

HC, however, held that Kalaskar’s confession in the Karnataka case could not be used against Bhave in Dr Dabholkar’s murder case, as the confession could only be used against a co-accused. Bhave has not been named an accused in Lankesh’s case. HC expressed doubts about the material regarding photo identification and the separate scene recreations involving Andure and Kalaskar, after noticing material discrepancies in the memorandum.