Supreme Court Grants Bail To Former Karnataka Minister & Congress Leader Vinay Kulkarni In Yogesh Gowda Murder Case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former Karnataka Minister and Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni who was arrested on November 5, 2020 in relation to murder of BJP worker, Yogesh Gowda. A bench of Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ajay Rastogi while allowing Kulkarni's bail plea has directed for producing Kulkarni before the concerned trial court within 3 days from today and ordered that bail be granted to him subject to the conditions imposed by the Court.The Top Court has imposed the following conditions to be followed by the former Congress Leader: Appellant shall not in any way impede conduct & proceedings of investigation & trial. Appellant shall not in any way directly or indirectly get in touch with any of the witnesses or shall try to influence any such witnesses. Appellant shall not enter the district of Dharwad till order of Trial Court & shall reside in Bangalore. The appellant shall mark his presence before marks his presence in the CBI ACP twice a week Any violation of these conditions shall result in cancellation of bail Arguments Arguing for grant of bail, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi yesterday drew Court's attention to the different versions in the challans submitted by the police and CBI wherein the local police probe identified that property dispute was the reason behind the murder but the CBI investigation pointed out that the policitcal rivalry led to the crime. "There were 3 challans in this case. The first was by the Police. A1 is the main assailant who killed him & A1 to A7 were on bail. A1 to A6 are the original accused in the state police challan. The case in the state police challan was that there was some land dispute between the accused & the deceased. Now see the political dispute in challan number 2. The story is different here," Senior Counsel Rohatgi contended. It was also his contention that the present matter was a case of fresh or reinvestigation and not further investigation which was only permissible by the Constitutional Courts and not the Magistrate's Court. Opposing the bail, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the CBI argued that the case was of further investigation and not reinvestigation and that the state was empowered to order further investigation under section 173(8) of the CrPC, 1973. "Purpose of further investigation is to do justice. The previous investigation was controlled by Vinay Kulkanri. He even named as to who would be the Public Prosecutor.The conspiracy is hatched for murder of Yogesh. It doesnt end with murder of Yogesh but it further includes the person who are innocent as accused," ASG Raju further argued. Pointing out to the fact that the CCTV footage showing involvement of Accused 7 to Accused 14 was not taken on record as evidence due to some technical ground, ASG Raju contented that Kulkarni was involved in every step of the conspiracy. "It has come on record that the police was bribed by giving 2 lakh rupees. The witnesses were taken to a hotel & were tutored by the advocates. All of this was there in the CBI's investigation. Vinay Kulkarni has taken part in every step. Witness & police tampered, assailants were give refugee," ASG Raju further argued. What Was The Yogesh Gowda Murder Case? Yogesh Gowda, a zilla panchayat member of the BJP from Hebballi constituency, was murdered by an armed gang at his gym in Saptapur in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. The Dharwad Police subsequent to his murder arrested six persons and chargesheeted them for murder. Supported by BJP leaders, Gurunath Goudar, brother of Yogeeshgouda Goudar demanded CBI probe into the case which was finally fulfilled after the BJP-led government came to power in the State. The CBI, took over the investigation on September 24, 2019, identified and arrested eight other accused and filed a charge-sheet on May 20, 2020. Arrested on November 5, 2020, Vinay Kulkarni has been in judicial custody in the Hindalga Jail of Belagavi since his bail plea was rejected twice, first by a lower court and then by the High Court. The CBI in February, 2021 had also filed a supplementary charge sheet in the CBI Special Court. Case Title: Vinay Rajashekarappa Kulkarni Versus Central Bureau Of Investigation| SLP(Crl) No. 4739/2021 Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Supreme Court Grants Bail To Former Karnataka Minister & Congress Leader Vinay Kulkarni In Yogesh Gowda Murder Case

Shruti Kakkar

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