Renukaswamy Was A Menace To Orderly Society: Actor Darshan Argues In Karnataka High Court For Bail

While seeking bail in the Renukaswamy Murder case, Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa Srinivas on Tuesday argued in the Karnataka High Court that the deceased was a "menace to the orderly society" as he would send vulgar messages.

"Messages were share not only to me but several women. I am certainly not saying that this can be the reason for his death...A man (deceased) who has no respect no regard, does not want to respect woman in society, a lawless person he has been glorified, made a national hero in the case while degrading my image in the society," his counsel Senior Advocate CV Nagesh submitted.

Justice S Vishwajith Shetty was hearing the bail pleas filed by Darshan and other co-accused, including Pavitra Gowda.

Referring to the alleged messages, Nagesh argued that the deceased had no respect for women and that he was a "lawless person".

Darshan and 16 others have been charged for offences punishable under Section 120B, (Conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 364 (Abduction/kidnapping), 302 (murder) and Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

During the hearing, Nagesh pointed to the alleged lapses in the Police investigation and discrepancies in the prosecution evidence with regards to allegations of abduction, destruction of evidence and recovery of material from the scene of crime and from his own house.

He claimed that the police were aware of the scene of crime even before Darshan's arrest and still, no seizure panchanama was done. He claimed the panchnama was prepared only on June 11, to show as if it was done at Darshan's instance. He also argued that no inquest was done till June 11; even the post mortem was not conducted until then, even though the body was found on June 9.

It was also claimed that the doctor's opinion about time of Renukaswamy's death was based merely on the photos of dead body.

On the charge of abduction of deceased from Chitradurga, Nagesh submitted “To indicate that the deceased was removed by force or by act of deceit there is absolutely no evidence in the final report. The deceased father has made a statement that his son went on his own, from Chitradurga to Bengaluru. Prima facie if Milord accepts this statement, it does not disclose that the deceased was not removed from Chitradurga by force or deceit.”

In regards to the recovery of nylon rope, branches of trees and another sharp weapon from the scene of crime, Nagesh said “The panchanama of June 12, is a patently fabricated document and prosecution has not come out with any explanation about why they did not seize the materials on June 9, 10,11? Why did they wait till June 12, when they were aware of the scene of crime.”

Similarly, he said that as per the voluntary statement of Darshan, there was no mention about him wearing shoes or chappals at the time of the alleged offence. However, the police claimed to have recovered blood stained shoes worn by the actor at the time of offence. He also pointed that the jeans and t-shirts worn by the actor were washed three days after the alleged crime and thus, the possibility of recovery of blood stained clothes seems to be fabricated.

He even claimed that one bottle of blood of the deceased was available with the FSL and the possibility of concoction cannot be ruled out.

Nagesh also said that money recovered from Drashan's house was a loan amount returned to him by one Mohan a month before the offence.

So far as call records relied on by the prosecution are concerned, Nagesh said the same pertained to persons "known" to the actor for years, including his manager, girlfriend, servants, driver etc.

The court will continue further hearing on Thursday.

Case Title: Darshan AND State of Karnataka

Case No: CRL.P 11096/2024