High court grants bail to an accused in Gauri Lankesh murder case

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to Mohan Nayak N, accused number 11 in the journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case. Allowing the petition filed by the accused petitioner, Justice S Vishwajith Shetty said that from the perusal of the order sheet maintained by the trial court it is seen that delay in trial cannot be attributed to the accused.

The main allegation against the petitioner was that he had harbored two main accused, who shot Gauri Lankesh, in a rented house at Kumbalgodu on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The petitioner had twice moved bail applications before the special court and also moved the high court challenging rejection of bail. He moved the high court again after his application seeking bail citing inordinate delay in completion of trial was rejected on July 6, 2023.

It was submitted that the petitioner is in custody for more than five years. It was further submitted that though in an order passed in 2019, the high court had directed the trial court to expedite the trial, till date there is no sufficient progress in the trial and in the near future there is no likelihood of the trial being completed. It was also stated that out of 527 charge sheet witnesses, only 90 have been examined so far.

The prosecution opposed the petition stating that out of 23 charge sheet witnesses who have spoken about the role of the petitioner in the crime, only one witness has been examined before the trial court till date.  It was also submitted that there is sufficient material to show that the petitioner is a member of the syndicate involved in committing organized crimes.

“Even if it is assumed that all the witnesses who are cited in the charge sheet may not be examined in the case, considering the fact that only 90 witnesses have been examined for the last more than two years, it can be safely presumed that any time soon, the trial of the case may not be completed.” The court said.

The court ordered Mohan Nayak’s release subject to he executing a personal bond for Rs one lakh and two sureties for like sum to the satisfaction of the trial court. The petitioner has been told not to leave the jurisdiction of trial court until disposal of the case registered against him and appear before the court on all dates and not to tamper with or threaten prosecution witnesses.