SC cancels bail granted to actor Darshan Thoogudeepa in Renukaswamy murder case
The court also cancelled the bail of actor Pavithra Gowda, who is Thoogudeepa's partner, and five others in the matter.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan was hearing an appeal filed by the Karnataka government challenging the High Court order granting them bail.
The court warned against the accused persons being provided special treatment in jail.
'The day we come to know that the accused persons are being provided five-star treatment, the first step would be to place the superintendent into suspension along with all other officials,' Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying.
Thoogudeepa was arrested on June 11, 2024, in connection with the murder of a 33-year-old man named Renukaswamy, who was his fan.
Renukaswamy had allegedly been sending abusive messages to Gowda. His body was found in a drain in Bengaluru's Summanahalli area on June 9, 2024.
In October, the High Court granted interim bail to Thoogudeepa for six weeks to undergo surgery. It also granted regular bail to Thoogudeepa, Gowda and the five other persons in December.
The single-judge High Court bench of Justice S Vishwajith Shetty had said that the prosecution had failed to provide grounds of arrest to the accused, Bar and Bench reported.
On July 24, the Supreme Court said that the High Court's approach in granting bail to Thoogudeepa was ' troubling '. The observation had come a week after the Supreme Court said that it was ' not convinced ' by the High Court's decision. The bench had also asked the actor's lawyers to provide 'good reason' why the Supreme Court should not interfere with the bail order.
Advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Thoogudeepa, had said that the High Court found the statements of the two eyewitnesses to be contradictory. He added that one of their statements was also recorded after 12 days.
However, the Supreme Court had verbally observed that it was more concerned about the manner in which the High Court dealt with the actor's bail plea, further asking if it follows the same approach in all such applications.
In August 2024, a Bengaluru court allowed the police to shift Thoogudeepa to the Ballari district prison from Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru after reports emerged that he was being given preferential treatment in custody.
Nine central jail officials in Bengaluru were suspended after a photograph showing Thoogudeepa sitting on a prison lawn in the company of three inmates was widely shared on social media.
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