Yogesh Gowda murder case: Karnataka HC reserves order on Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni’s bail plea

The Karnataka High Court has reserved its order on Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni’s bail plea in the 2016 Yogesh Gowda murder case.

The Karnataka High Court has reserved its judgment on the bail petition of Congress Dharwad MLA Vinay Kulkarni in the Yogesh Gowda murder case. The order was reserved Friday by Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav.

Kulkarni is among 21 accused in the 2016 murder of BJP member Yogesh Gowda. Prior to the murder, Gowda had been sent an anonymous letter warning of his impending death. He was later murdered at a gym in Dharwad by people alleged to be hired assailants.

Kulkarni had previously obtained bail in this case in 2021, with the Supreme Court cancelling the bail on June 6 last year after he had allegedly attempted to influence witnesses in a violation of bail conditions. The special court trying the case had also cancelled the bail of Chandrashekar Indi, one of his associates, on these grounds.

Arguing on behalf of Kulkarni, Senior Advocate C V Nagesh stated that there had been a change in circumstances. “…other than the Investigating Officer, all the witnesses have been examined and the question of meddling with justice is certainly not there…according to the prosecution, my companion accused also meddled with justice. This honourable court has seen fit to grant him the benefit of bail.”

Nagesh added that Kulkarni was the sole accused who did not have bail at the moment, adding that he was neither accused of being one of the assailants, nor was he at the crime scene. He submitted, “The persons, according to the prosecution, who are actually involved in the assault on the deceased, came to be granted the benefit of bail.”

Opposing the bail request, the prosecution counsel had previously argued in earlier hearings that bail could not be granted when it had originally been revoked for witness tampering, and this cancellation itself would make Kulkarni ineligible for further bail.

After hearing the submissions, the high court reserved the order.