The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to Mohan Nayak N, the 11th accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Nayak was accused of conspiring with others to commit the murder, providing shelter to the actual assailants, and renting a house for the conspiracy. Justice S Vishwajith Shetty, on a single-judge bench, granted bail to Nayak, making him the first accused in the case to be released on bail.
The allegations against Nayak included conspiring with co-accused to murder Gauri Lankesh, providing shelter to the assailants, and renting an isolated house for the conspiracy.
The bail was granted based on several grounds, including the delay in the trial.
“In the present case, out of 527 charge sheet witnesses, only 90 witnesses have been examined. This Court on 11.02.2019 directed the Trial Court to expedite the trial. Though charges were framed in the present case on 30.10.2021, for the last more than two years, only 90 witnesses have been examined. There are more than 400 charge sheet witnesses who are yet to be examined in the case.
Even if it is assumed that all the witnesses mentioned in the charge sheet may not be examined in the case, considering the fact that only 90 witnesses have been examined for the last more than two years, it can be safely presumed that any time soon, the trial of the case may not be completed,” the judgement stated.
Nayak, who has been in custody since July 18, 2018, was granted bail considering the prolonged incarceration and the delay in the trial. The court emphasized that while the law imposes certain rigors for bail under Section 22(4) of the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act, 2000 (COCA), the court’s power to grant bail should not be hindered when there is undue delay in the trial. The court also observed that the delay in the trial could not be attributed to the accused based on the order sheet maintained by the Trial Court in Spl.CC.No.872/2018.
Mohan Nayak faces charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Arms Act, 1959, and Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act, 2000 (COCA). Despite a previous bail plea being rejected, Nayak’s current petition argued that only one out of 23 charge sheet witnesses discussing his role had been examined. Gauri Lankesh was murdered on September 5, 2017, outside her Bengaluru residence by bike-borne assailants. The police arrested a total of 17 men in connection with the case, linking Gauri’s murder to the killings of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, and Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra. Nayak was released on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties for similar amounts.
