The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to six accused in the 2015 murder of Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare..Justice Anil Kilor grated bail to Sachin Andure, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degvekar, Amit Baddi, Bharat Kurane and Vasudev Suryavanshi. All five of them shall be released on furnishing a personal recognizance bond of ₹25,000 with one solvent surety of the same amount..As part of their bail conditions, they are also required to appear at the Rajarampuri Police Station in Kolhapur on the 1st and 16th of each month, between 10 am and 12 noon, until the conclusion of the trial. This obligation does not apply on the date of the trial for this case or any other pending cases..While granting bail, the Court observed that all the accused, arrested in 2018 and 2019, have been incarcerated for a long time with little to no progress in the trial. Of the 231 witnesses listed, only about 25 to 30 have been examined, leading the court to conclude that the trial "would not be concluded in near future.""If we see the progress of the trial, it is evident that there is no satisfactory progress in the trial, which further show that there is no end of trial in sight," one of the orders read.While allowing the bail applications, the Court also rejected the objection raised by Megha Pansare (daughter of the deceased Govind Pansare) to the bail..Pansare was shot dead by extremists in February 2015 near his house in Kolhapur. He succumbed to his injuries five days later. His daughter, Smita Pansare, later moved the High Court raising concerns about the slow progress made by the investigating agency. She also contended that there was a larger conspiracy in the murders of Pansare and other activists like Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. She argued that the four murders were interlinked and that the mastermind behind these attacks was common.The High Court earlier this month stopped judicial monitoring of the investigation into the case..The investigation into Pansare's murder was earlier conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) of the State Police's Crime Investigation Department.In August 2022, the case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on orders of the High Court.The High Court last year had dismissed a petition filed by the Maharashtra government seeking cancellation of bail granted to Samir Gaikwad, one of the accused in Pansare's murder..Advocate Pushpa Ganediwala with advocates Siddh Vidya, Shalaka Karkar, Anshu Agrawal, Divya Maniar instructed by Siddh Vidya & Associates appeared for accused Vasudev Suryavanshi, Amit Degvekar, Ganesh Miskin and Amit Baddi.Advocate Niteen Pradhan with advocates Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, Shahen Pradhan, Danish Patel, Shambhavi Desai instructed SD Khot appeared for a accused Bharat Kurane and Sachin Andure.Advocate Tanuj Kushare instructed by Abhay Nevagi & Associates appeared for appeared for Dr Megha Pansare.Additional Public Prosecutors Geeta P Mulekar and Veera Shinde appeared for the State..[Read Orders]
