Karnataka HC declares JD(S) MLA Gowrishankar’s election in 2018 void, later stays disqualification
Gowrishankar will have to appeal to the Supreme Court and get a stay on the High Court's judgment within one month of the order.
The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to one of the accused in the activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case.
Mohan Nayak is the first person to get bail in relation to the case.
Justice S Viashwajith Shetty, in his order, noted that none of the 23 witnesses who spoke about the role of Nayak, said he was part of the meeting where the accused persons allegedly conspired to murder Lankesh.
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Most of those witnesses have only spoken about Nayak taking a house on rent at Kumbalagodu in the outskirts of Bengaluru, it added.
The accused sought bail on the ground of delay in conclusion of trial.
The court further said even if charges under the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act (COCA) are proved against the accused, the offences are not punishable exclusively with death or life imprisonment and the minimum punishment for the offences is imprisonment by five years.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed officials to set up a special court for speedy disposal of the murders of Gauri Lankesh and famous writer and rationalist MM Kalburgi, according to multiple reports.
Lankesh, who was the editor of a periodical named Gauri Lankesh Patrike and a prominent critic of Hindutva groups, was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar by a group of men on the night of September 5, 2017, as she was returning home from work.
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