Karnataka High Court seeks report on medical condition of actor Darshan

As actor Darshan’s lawyer on Tuesday claimed that doctors have advised surgery for his back pain, the High Court of Karnataka has directed the prosecution to submit a report on the actor’s medical condition while adjourning to October 28 the hearing on his petition for grant of bail in Renukaswamy murder case.

Appearing for the actor, Senior Advocate C.V. Nagesh said that the doctors of Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Science (VIMS) have advised Mr. Darshan to undergo surgery for his back pain and requested the court to grant bail to the actor on medical grounds to undergo surgery as per the medical advice.

Following these submissions, Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty, before whom the actor’s petition seeking bail came up for hearing, directed Special Public Prosecutor P. Prasanna Kumar to submit the actor’s medical report before the court by October 28.

The actor had moved the High Court for bail after the trial court on October 14 rejected his plea for releasing him on bail.

Why was bail denied?

The trial court had said that the material on record shows that there are strong prima facie materials to show that Darshan has played a major role in the alleged crime.

“If Darshan is released on bail, there is every chance that he will tamper with the prosecution witnesses. He may also threaten the witnesses,” the trial court had said while referring to the allegation that “the actor paid the money to destroy the evidence” soon after the murder of Renukaswamy on June 8 and the money paid by the actor has been recovered from some of the other accused.

On the argument that around 450-500 persons are depending on him for their livelihood as several crores of rupees are invested in him to make movies and non-grant of bail would impact others depending on his movies for their livelihood, the trial court said that differential treatment to the actor on account of status will amount to negation of the concept of equality before the law. The possession of high status is not an irrelevant consideration for granting bail, the trial court had said in its order.

Published - October 22, 2024 10:33 pm IST