On 14th August, the Supreme Court of India cancelled the bail granted by the Karnataka High Court to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda and five others in the Renukaswamy murder case.
#BREAKING
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) August 14, 2025
The Supreme Court on Aug 14 cancelled the bail granted to Kannada actors Darshan Thoogudeepa and Pavithra Gowda and five others by the Karnataka High Court in the Renukaswamy murder case.
The Bench pronounced the order on an appeal filed by the Karnataka government… pic.twitter.com/oYN6o3AiLA
A Bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan allowed the Karnataka Government’s appeal and termed the High Court order “perverse” and a “mechanical exercise of power”. The Court held that granting bail risked influencing witnesses and impacting the trial. Justice Pardiwala stressed that “no man is above law or below it” and warned jail authorities against giving the accused any special treatment.
In his judgement, J Mahadevan further said that the HC order suffers from perversity and the court went into witness statement which is the only prerogative of the trial court.
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) August 14, 2025
On 9th June last year, the body of 33-year-old auto driver Renukaswamy was found allegedly killed following an attack ordered by Darshan over derogatory social media remarks against Gowda. Darshan was arrested on 11th June 2024. Later, Karnataka High Court granted him bail in October on medical grounds and regular bail in December. The State challenged the order before the apex court, which has now revoked it.
