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The Supreme Court has raised serious questions on the Karnataka High Court’s decision regarding bail in the Renuka Swamy murder case of actor Darshan. During the hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court reserved the verdict on the Karnataka government’s plea, demanding the darshan and cancellation of bail of other accused. The court will decide whether Darshan’s bail will remain or can be canceled.

Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan’s bench expressed displeasure over the Karnataka High Court’s order of 13 December 2024, in which Darshan, Pavitra Gowda and others were granted bail.

Justice Pardiwala said, “The High Court gave such an order as it decides to be punished or acquitted. This is the misuse of judicial power.”

He asked Darshan’s lawyer Kapil Sibal, “Don’t you think the High Court has ordered acquitting? Do you do the same in other cases?”

The court also questioned the High Court’s argument that the basis of arrest in the case of Section 302 (murder) was not immediately informed. At the hearing, Karnataka government lawyer Siddharth Luthra said that Darshan shared a public platform with a witness after his release on bail, which could affect the investigation.

The Supreme Court asked whether the accused have any criminal history and asked to present it in the next hearing.

When the government talked about the day-to-day hearing, Justice Pardiwala questioned, “When other prisoners have been in jail for years, why in this case soon?” The court was told that the case could be completed in six months.

Darshan, his colleague Pavitra Gowda and 15 others were arrested on 11 June 2024 for the kidnapping and murder of Renuka Swamy, a fan of Chitradurga.

Darshan is busy shooting for his upcoming film ‘Devil’ and is currently in Thailand. On February 28, the Karnataka High Court allowed him to travel across the country, while earlier this order was limited to Bengaluru.