Supreme Court cancels bail granted to Darshan, six others in Renukaswamy murder case, directs them to surrender immediately

NEW DELHI, BENGALURU: In a huge shock for actor Darshan, and six other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, the Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled the bail granted by the High Court of Karnataka and ordered them to surrender immediately. This means that Darshan and the others will have to go back to jail and face trial.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, cancelled the bail granted to Darshan, Pavitra Gowda, Anukumar, Pradosh S, Jagadish a.k.a. Jagga, Lakshman M and Nagaraju holding that the high court had erred in granting bail to the accused. The bench had earlier reserved its order on the Karnataka government’s petition challenging the bail granted to the actor and others.

The Supreme Court bench noted that the bail granted to Darshan and the six others was ‘perverse and wholly unwarranted’. The court also strictly directed the Karnataka police to arrest Darshan and the others if they do not surrender immediately. The state had challenged the bail granted to Darshan and the others on December 13, 2024.

In its order setting aside the bail granted to the accused Justice Pardiwala also directed the Supreme Court Registry to circulate one copy of the order to each of the High Courts and to jail superintendents through respective state governments.

Justice Pardiwala also told the State, “If we are shown photographs of the accused smoking, drinking in jails, we will call you Mr Luthra. We have passed this judgment at your instance. If we get to see those photographs again, you will be summoned first”. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra represented the State in the Supreme Court in the case.

“My opinion, my esteemed brother just pronouced very erudite judgment. All that I can say, the judgment is ineffable. It conveys a very strong message, whoever the accused may be, he/she is not above the law. It ensures that justice delivery system at any level must ensure rule of law. The day we come to know that accused is provided five star treatment, the first step would be to suspend the jail superintendent”, Justice Paridwala noted.

Welcoming the decision, Advocate D L Chidananda, representing the State government in the case, said the SC stated that the Karnataka HC’s decision did not follow the principles of granting bail.

Chidananda said, “The Supreme Court said that the High Court has not followed the principles of law which apply for granting bail. It also reiterated that the rule of law prevails in the country and, however influential an individual may be, they must be treated in accordance with the law”.

#WATCH | Delhi | On SC cancelling actor Darshan’s bail in the Renukaswamy murder case, Advocate DL Chidananda, representing the Karnataka government in the case, says, “… The Supreme Court said that the High Court has not followed the principles of law which apply for granting… pic.twitter.com/yNEeekzf9b

— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2025

Congress leader Rizwan Arshad said that the State government has built up a “crystal clear” case against the actor, so they had to appeal against the Karnataka HC’s order. “They have built up a crystal clear case. Despite that, he got bail… As a government, we had to appeal against the bail, and that’s what we did”, Arshad said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s legal adviser AS Ponnanna said that granting Darshan bail would have hampered the investigation and trial. He said, “The state government and the prosecution agency were vindicated… It was the state government’s decision that, in a case like this, where a serious offence has been registered, granting him bail would hamper the investigation and trial, as he is a powerful person. They did not want him to use his muscle to derail the prosecution’s case”.

Darshan was named in the chargesheet in the Renukaswamy murder case, where the 33-year-old resident of Chitradurga was murdered. The victim’s remains were discovered in Bengaluru’s Kamakshipalya on June 9, 2024. (With Agency Inputs).