Darshan’s Plea Against Approver Status for Pradosh Rao Deferred; Karnataka High Court to Deliver Order on Sept 7
The Karnataka High Court has postponed its decision on actor Darshan Thoogudeepa’s petition against the trial court’s approval of his plea for co-accused Pradosh Rao to become an approver in the sensational Renukaswamy murder case. The court will make its decision on the same on September 7.
The development comes in the midst of a bitter legal battle over Renukaswamy's murder (the alleged murder of a fan of actor Darshan from Chitradurga). Public attention is high in Karnataka due to the involvement of prominent actors from the Kannada film industry.
The matter was before a bench headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna. Darshan’s petition had been heard at a time last night and an order was expected to be issued on September 2. But the court deferred the announcement due to the late hour and the heavy workload during the day.
According to submissions made before the High Court, Darshan has challenged the trial court’s decision to allow Pradosh Rao, the 14th accused in the case, to turn approver. An approver is a person who is accused of a crime and agrees to provide evidence against co-accused persons in exchange for legal concessions.
Darshan’s legal team argued that the process by which the approver status was granted to Pradosh Rao was not legally appropriate and therefore required judicial scrutiny. The petition seeks to overturn the trial court’s order that paved the way for Pradosh Rao to testify as a prosecution witness.
According to the court during the hearing, delivering the order on the same day might not be possible given the number of cases heard. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Prasanna Kumar said that the court had heard around 550 cases during the day, calling it a huge success. After the arguments, Justice Nagaprasanna ordered the order to be issued on September 7.
Meanwhile, proceedings before the trial court are also affected. The recording of Pradosh Rao's evidence has been postponed until the High Court decides on the challenge filed by Darshan.
Background of the Case
The Renukaswamy murder case is based on allegations that Renukaswamy had sent offensive and inappropriate messages to Pavithra Gowda, a close friend of the actor Darshan. Renukaswamy was kidnapped from Chitradurga and brought to Bengaluru by the accused.
According to the prosecution, he was put in a shed in Bengaluru’s Pattanagere area and tortured severely before he was killed. The case later resulted in the arrest of several accused, including actor Darshan.
Pradosh Rao was closely associated with several accused individuals and may have had extensive knowledge regarding the planning, abduction, confinement and events that led to Renukaswamy’s death, prosecutors say. This is one of the reasons why he has declared his willingness to be an approver and cooperate with investigators.
The high court's decision is expected to have an effect, therefore, on the outcome of the trial. If the court upholds the trial court’s decision, Pradosh Rao could become a key prosecution witness. But if Darshan’s challenge is successful, the prosecution would have to step back from its strategy.
All eyes are now on September 7, when the Karnataka High Court is expected to give its much-anticipated ruling in one of the state’s most closely watched criminal cases.
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