The Bengaluru principal sessions court has ordered that all the people who have been arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who are being held in various prisons across the state, be transferred to the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, Bengaluru, for framing charges.
The principal City Civil and Sessions Judge in its order dated 22nd September, ruled, “in view of the accused being held in separate prisons and one or the other accused not being produced from their respective prisons, the framing of charges is being postponed for one reason or another reason. So, the accused who are held in Tumkur, Mysuru, Ballari and Shivamogga jail are ordered to be transferred to the central prison in Parappana Agrahara, Bangalore for framing charges. The investigating officer is directed to provide the IP address of Arthur Jail, Bombay in order to organize a video conference of the accused placed at Arthur Jail, Bombay. “
The court also indicated that it may file charges against the accused on the next date of hearing, it said: “The office has been instructed to issue the required intimation to the IO and to the relevant prison authorities. Call on for framing charge and to hear the bail application of A-17 by 25.10.2021.
On 5th September 2017, Gauri Lankesh- a journalist and activist, was shot dead in front of her house in south Bangalore. 18 people have been arrested by the police in the case. The first charge- sheet, in this case, was filed against Naveen Kumar on 30th May. The SIT submitted another 9,235-page chargesheet to the Principal Civil and Sessions court on 23rd November 2018. The second chargesheet listed 18 people as accused in the murder case of Gauri Lankesh.
The Supreme Court recently reserved orders in a plea filed by filmmaker Kavita Lankesh, who is also Gauri Lankesh’s sister, challenging the Karnataka High Court’s decision to drop charges under the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act (KCOCA) against an accused Mohan Nayak in the Gauri Lankesh murder case.
