NEW DELHI, 17 JULY

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its reservation over the Karnataka High Court’s decision to grant bail to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa in the Renukaswamy murder case.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said it was “not at all convinced” by the manner in which the high court exercised its discretion.

The bench asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the actor, to give "good reasons" why it should not interfere with bail order.

“To be very honest with you, we are not convinced with the manner in which the high court has exercised discretion. Very honestly, we will say this. We will hear you because your clients are on bail, they have come for cancellation of bail and you must have seen the manner in which the high court had dictated the order," Justice Pardiwala told Sibal.

Sibal asked the bench to examine the statements of keywitnesses recorded by the police and the judicial magistrate.

On being asked as to which part of the high court’s order was troubling the bench, Justice Pardiwala referred to the portion where the high court was looking for "how to release them (accused) on bail."

"You need to convince us that there is no good reason for this court to interfere," the bench said.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the state governmentchallenging the high court’s 13 December, 2024, order granting bail to Darshan and other co-accused.

Darshan, along with actress Pavithra Gowda and several others, is accused of abducting and torturing 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan who allegedly sent obscene messages to Pavithra.

The police alleged the victim was held in a shed in Bengaluru for three days in June 2024, tortured and his body was recovered from a drain.

The Karnataka High Court granted Darshan an interim bail on medical grounds for six weeks on 30 October, 2024, but granted regular bail in December.