Trial in 2017 Gauri Lankesh murder case set to get sixth judge since filing of chargesheet in 2018

The court of the principal civil and sessions judge in Bengaluru has been conducting the trial of the Gauri Lankesh murder case on account of the invocation of charges under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act, 2000, and the principal sessions court being designated as the special court for KCOCA cases.

17 accused named in chargesheet

In a chargesheet filed in November 2018, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police named 17 people linked to various fringe right-wing groups for the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh.

The murder was allegedly coordinated by former members of the right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha and its affiliate Hindu Janajagruti Samiti by creating a crime syndicate to target critics of Hindutva.

The delayed trial in the case, initially hampered by Covid-19 and applications filed by the accused on various grounds, has resulted in the release of all the accused on bail by the Karnataka High Court and the trial court, citing the grounds of delay in trial.

Five of the principal session judges who have been in incharge of the case —Shivashankar Amarannavar, Anil Katti, C. M. Joshi, Ramakrishna Huddar, and B. Muralidhara Pai —have been elevated to the Karnataka High Court after tenures ranging from two years to three months.

Despite the SIT filing the chargesheet in November 2018, the trial in the case did not commence until July 4, 2022. The then judge C M Joshi had set an agenda for a speedy trial of the murder case with hearings scheduled for the second week of every month.

In October 2021, charges were framed for murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, under section 120 B for criminal conspiracy, as well as sections of the IPC for crimes carried out with criminal knowledge and intention.

Charges were also framed under the KCOCA and the Arms Act due to trained gunmen carrying out the murder.

Supreme Court dismisses pleas seeking cancellation of bails

Last August, the Supreme Court dismissed two separate petitions filed by the Karnataka government and Kavitha Lankesh, the sister of Gauri Lankesh, seeking the cancellation of bail granted in December 2023 by the Karnataka HC to a key accused linked to the right-wing crime syndicate who was arrested for allegedly providing logistical support for the murder. The Karnataka HC, in a December 7, 2023, order, granted bail to a key accused, Mohan Nayak, on the grounds of delay in the trial of the case.

The SC dismissed the petitions filed by the Karnataka government and Kavitha Lankesh against the Karnataka HC order with directions to expedite the trial in the murder case. The SC order resulted in the Karnataka HC and the trial court granting bail to the other accused in the case on grounds of delay in trial.

In an effort to expedite the trial, the prosecution has dropped over 250 of the initially named 500 witnesses and has so far examined more than 200 witnesses.

Right-wing criminal syndicate targeting critics

Gauri Lankesh, 55, an outspoken critic of right-wing Hindutva, was allegedly shot dead outside her home in west Bengaluru on the night of September 5, 2017, by two motorcycle-borne assassins. The SIT identified them as Parashuram Waghmore, 26, a former member of the Sri Rama Sena in Bijapur and Ganesh Miskin, 27, a right-wing activist from Hubbali.

The Karnataka SIT stated that the journalist was killed by members of extremist right-wing groups who created a syndicate to carry out killings and attacks on critics, primarily in Karnataka and Maharashtra, between 2013 and 2018.

“The members of this organisation targeted persons who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha,” the SIT said after it filed a chargesheet against the accused in the case on November 23, 2018.

The ballistic evidence from the Gauri Lankesh murder case facilitated the unravelling of the murders of the scholar M M Kalburgi in Dharwad in Karnataka on August 30, 2015, as well as the shooting of the Leftist thinker Govind Pansare, 81, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur on February 16, 2015, and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, 69, in Pune on August 20, 2013.

A ballistics expert was examined at length during the trial in August and September this year, about the evidence in the case, before the trial was temporarily put on hold after the elevation of the presiding officer to the HC, and in the absence of a regular judge.

Witnesses turning hostile

In the Gauri Lankesh murder trial, out of the nearly 200 witnesses who have been examined so far, three who are linked to the right-wing groups found involved in the murder have turned hostile in the witness box.

In May, one of the witnesses from Belagavi, who had previously provided a statement in court about attending training camps where outside experts were present, turned hostile and denied making his earlier statements.

In August 2023, a prosecution witness from Udupi in Karnataka, who was also identified among the people recruited by the right-wing syndicate for extremist activities, denied attending meetings and a training camp of the group.

Another prosecution witness, linked to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, who is alleged to have loaned his motorcycle to an accused, H L Suresh, to facilitate the reconnaissance of the journalist’s home in Bengaluru, also turned hostile in 2023.