The Karnataka High Court Friday directed the state police chief to take immediate steps to ensure that any person arrested in the state is provided the details of the reasons for the arrest in writing as prescribed by the Supreme Court in 2023.
A single-judge bench of the high court issued the directions to the director general of police in the course of granting bail to Kannada film star Darshan Thoogudeepa and six others in the murder of one Renukaswamy who was allegedly stalking the actor’s woman friend Pavitra Gowda on social media.
The bail was granted on the grounds that the accused were not served notices stating reasons for arrest and that they did not have serious criminal antecedents.
“The Director General of Police, State of Karnataka, shall therefore take necessary steps forthwith prescribing a uniform format for communicating grounds of arrest in writing to the person arrested, which shall include all basic facts of the case leading to the arrest, and the copy of such memo of grounds of arrest as communicated to the arrested person shall be enclosed along with the remand report when filed before the Magistrate seeking remand,” Justice Vishwajith Shetty said on Friday.
The HC has also asked the registrar general of the court “to take necessary steps to circulate the copy of this order to all the Magistrates/Judges in the District Judiciary in the State of Karnataka, and also to the Director General of Police of Karnataka, for effective compliance.”
Thoogudeepa, Gowda, Pradoosh Rao, Jagadish alias Jaggu, Anu Kumar, Lakshman M, and Nagaraju K were granted bail by Justice Vishwajith Shetty. The court had earlier reserved its judgment in the matter on December 9.
The popular actor was arrested on June 11 for his alleged role in the June 9 murder of Renukaswamy, a fan who allegedly stalked and abused the actor’s friend Pavitra Gowda on social media. Renukaswamy was allegedly kidnapped by Thoogudeepa’s associates at the instance of the actor.
The members of Thoogudeepa’s alleged gang including Pavitra Gowda were arrested after investigations revealed that the actor reportedly paid a few men to take the blame for the murder after Renukaswamy died following an alleged brutal beating by Thoogudeepa and others at a shed in Bengaluru.
The HC while granting bail to seven of the 17 persons accused in the murder said, “In the present case, accused nos. 1, 2, 11, 12 & 14 were arrested on 11.06.2024 and accused nos. 6 & 7 were arrested on 14.06.2024. Perusal of the order sheet of the committal court would go to show that no mention is made in the order sheet about service of memo of grounds of arrest on the aforesaid accused immediately after their arrest.”
“Since service of memo of grounds of arrest on the accused immediately after their arrest is mandatory from 03.10.2023 onwards, non-compliance of the same entitles the accused for bail,” the HC ruled.
“In view of the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Pankaj Bansal’s case… service of memo of grounds of arrest on the arrested accused immediately after their arrest is mandatory requirement of law for all offences post 03.10.2023 onwards, and therefore, there is an urgent need to update the arrest memo forms to ensure effective compliance of Section 50(1) of CrPC (corresponding provision under Section 47 of BNSS, 2023) and Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India,” it added.
“The Magistrates and Judges in the District Judiciary who exercise powers of remand shall record their satisfaction of compliance, or otherwise, of the requirement mandated under Section 50(1) of CrPC (Corresponding provision under Section 47 of BNSS, 2023) and Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, without fail,” the HC pointed out.
The Court also indicated a possible long delay in the conclusion of the trial of the case.
“They are all persons with deep roots in the society. Petitioners are in custody for the last six months and the prosecution, in all, has cited 262 charge sheet witnesses and 587 documents are cited in 13 volumes along with the charge sheet. Therefore, chances of the trial being completed in the near future is very remote,” the HC observed.
Justice Shetty had earlier granted interim conditional bail for six weeks to Thoogudeepa on October 30 for treatment of a back ailment. The interim bail had been extended on December 9 to facilitate surgery.
The police have based their charges against Thoogudeepa on the call detail records and DNA reports that have established his presence at the crime scene.
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