Bengaluru, 29 Oct

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on an application filed by Kannada Actor Darshan Thoogudeep Srinivas seeking interim bail on medical grounds to undergo spine surgery. Darshan is currently in jail as an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.

Justice S Vishwajith Shetty 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 he is lodged, and the Head of the Department of Neurology at a government hospital in Ballari.

Nagesh claimed that Darshan is experiencing numbness in both feet and requested permission for his surgery to be performed at a private hospital in Mysuru, with the actor covering all associated costs.

The interim bail request was opposed by the Prosecutor, who said that the medical documents lacked specifics on how many days Darshan would need to be hospitalised. Kumar also argued that the surgery could be performed at a government hospital.

The court referred to Supreme Court precedents mentioned by Nagesh, pointing out that the State does not have the authority to dictate where an undertrial may receive medical treatment.

However, the court questioned Nagesh on the choice of Mysuru for the surgery. “Why Mysuru? Let a doctor in Bengaluru examine you and provide an assessment of the surgery’s urgency and duration. Interim bail is time-limited, and we need to understand how long you would be hospitalised,” Justice Shetty stated. -PTI