Karnataka High Court restrains media from publishing chargesheet details in Renukaswamy murder case

Actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, being taken to medical testing at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, after being arrested in connection with a alleged murder case, in Bengaluru on June 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

The Karnataka High Court on September 10, 2024, issued an ex-parte interim order barring media outlets from broadcasting, printing, or publishing any information from the chargesheet against Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is accused along with 16 others in the Renukaswamy murder case. The restriction will remain in place until the next hearing.

Justice Hemant Chandangoudar, presiding over a single-judge bench, passed the order following a plea by the 47-year-old actor, who requested the court to restrain media organisations from disseminating confidential details contained in the chargesheet and other materials gathered during the investigation. The case is pending before a Magistrate court.

HC refers to 2010 SC ruling

The High Court noted that despite an injunction issued by a lower court on August 27 in a suit filed by Darshan’s wife Vijayalakshmi, media outlets continued to share confidential information. Finding merit in the petitioner’s arguments, the court ordered media outlets, identified as respondents 3 to 40, to refrain from publishing any details from the chargesheet until the next hearing.

In its decision, the HC referred to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Sidhartha Vashisht @ Manu Sharma vs State (NCT of Delhi), and Clause 5 of the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995. It also cited a prior judgment from a coordinate bench of the Karnataka High Court. The court instructed the Union of India to notify the media houses of this ruling.

The murder of Renukaswamy

Darshan was arrested on June 11, 2024, in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case and has been in judicial custody since June 22. Currently he is lodged in Ballari prison.

According to police sources, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda (Darshan’s friend and co-accused), which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli, Bengaluru on June 9.

Raghavendra, one of the accused, who is part of Darshan’s fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R.R. Nagar, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered. According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.

Police sources said Pavithra, who is accused number one, was the “major cause” for Renukaswamy’s murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime.