Renukaswamy murder case: Actor Darshan submits plea in Karnataka HC seeking bail

Bengaluru, Oct 16 : Jailed Kannada superstar Darshan on Wednesday submitted a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking bail, challenging the lower court order to quash his bail plea in connection with the sensation murder case of Renukaswamy -- a fan of Darshan.

The actor has also requested an "emergency hearing" into the matter.

The High Court is expected to take up the matter on October 22.

The prime accused in the fan murder case -- Darshan's partner Pavithra Gowda -- has also approached the High Court for bail.

Meanwhile, the lower court which had reserved the order over the bail petitions of other accused persons, Pradosh S. Rao, Vinay and Jagadish on Wednesday issued orders quashing their pleas.

The two accused who were granted bail, eighth Deepak and thirteenth accused Ravishankar have not got released from the prison yet as the formalities have not been completed yet.

They are lodged in Tumakuru prison.

Meanwhile, the Ballary jail authorities have permitted Darshan to have a medical bed, pillow and chair since his back pain has aggravated.

A Bengaluru court on Monday had quashed the bail petitions of jailed Kannada superstar Darshan and his partner Pavithra Gowda in connection with the sensational murder case of Renukaswamy.

Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and 15 others were arrested on June 11 on charges of kidnapping and brutally murdering Renukaswamy from Chitradurga.

Renukaswamy had allegedly sent derogatory and obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda.

Darshan was shifted to Ballary prison after photos of 'royal treatment' of him at the Bengaluru Central Prison surfaced. He is facing three FIRs in this connection.

Criminal lawyer C.V. Nagesh had appeared for Darshan in the lower court and dubbed the police charges as planted.

He even termed the investigation a classic failure and compared the charges in the chargesheet to the story of 'Arabian Nights'.

Darshan's counsel highlighted that there was a deliberate delay in conducting a postmortem of the body of Renukaswamy and recording the statements of eyewitnesses.

Special Public Prosecutor Prasanna Kumar, known for handling high-profile cases, had vehemently argued that the bail petition of Darshan should not be accepted.

He submitted before the court that Darshan in his statement had confessed to kicking Renukaswamy's chest.

The counsel also referred to the incident as Darshan's "Rakta Charitra" and also stated that he was aware of the conspiracy to kidnap Renukaswamy from Chitradurga.

The police had submitted a 3,991-page charge sheet on September 4.