Gauri Lankesh murder: All accused out on bail after Bengaluru court grants bail to last one in custody

A Bengaluru court has granted bail to yet another accused in the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh..On January 8, Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge Muralidhara Pai B granted bail to Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar after noting that he had been in custody since September 2018 and that the trial was unlikely to be concluded any time soon.With this order, all the 17 accused persons facing trial in the case are now out on bail. There are a total of 18 accused persons in the case. One Vikas Patil has been absconding and is yet to be arrested..Kalaskar had sought bail claiming that he was innocent and had no connection to the case. He had also sought bail on the ground of parity, saying that most of his co-accused had already been granted bail in the case.The prosecution had opposed Kalaskar’s bail application, arguing that he was a repeat offender who had also faced conviction in another criminal case, and if let out on bail, there was a chance he would commit another crime..The Court, however, held that Kalaskar was entitled to bail on the ground of parity.“As already pointed out, as on this day all the accused facing trial in the case except the Petitioner are on bail. As such the Petitioner is entitled for bail even on the ground of parity. Further, admittedly the Petitioner is in custody in the case since 4.9.2018. In several decisions Hon'ble Apex Court has repeatedly held that speedy trial is a fundamental right implicit in the broad sweep and content of Article 21 of Constitution and that if the period of deprivation of personal liberty pending trial becomes unduly long, the fairness assured by Article 21 of the Constitution would receive a jolt,” the Court said..In July last year, a single-judge of the Karnataka High Court had granted bail to three accused persons in the case. A month later, it had granted bail to four more accused persons in the case. All these accused had sought bail on the ground of parity, citing the relief granted to their co-accused Mohan Nayak, who was granted bail by the High Court in December 2023 on the ground of delay in trial..Lankesh was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assassins outside her home in West Bengaluru on the night of September 5, 2017..[Read Order]