Bombay HC grants bail to one more convict in Narendra Dabholkar murder case

The court also expressed serious doubts about the manner in which CBI got the accused identified by two witnesses

The Bombay high court on Tuesday suspended life sentence handed down to Sachin Andure, a convict in Dr Narendra Dabholkar murder case, and granted him bail during pendency of his appeal against his conviction.

Dabholkar, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead on August 20, 2013. (File Photo)

A division bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale pronounced the order on Tuesday on a plea filed by the right wing activist.

Andure is the second convict in the high-profile murder case to secure bail during pendency of appeals. The high court has on April 29 this year, granted bail to Sharad Kalaskar, one of the two gunmen who shot dead anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, primarily on the ground of his long incarceration of over eight years.

The court also expressed serious doubts about the manner in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) got the accused identified by two witnesses - by showing them his photographs, instead of a test identification parade.

Dabholkar, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead on August 20, 2013, near his residence in Pune when he was returning from morning walk. He was also instrumental in pursuing the government’s ‘anti superstition bill’.

The offence was registered with the Deccan police station in Pune and the investigation was subsequently transferred to CBI. During the course of the investigation, the prosecution alleged that the killing was allegedly carried out by two men on a motorcycle, later identified as Kalaskar and Sachin Andure—both reportedly affiliated with a right wing organisation, Sanatan Sanstha.

A special CBI court in Pune had on May 10, 2024, convicted and sentenced them to life imprisonment.