Karnataka High Court to pronounce order on Darshan interim bail plea tomorrow

The Karnataka High Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday, October 30, its order on the interim bail application filed by jailed actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case..Justice S Vishwajith Shetty reserved orders on the interim bail plea filed by Darshan after hearing extensive arguments by the actor’s counsel and Senior Advocate CV Nagesh and State Public Prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar.The State had earlier submitted in a sealed cover medical reports by doctors from the Ballari Central Prison and the Head of Department, Neurology of a Ballari government hospital.The Court noted that the medical reports recommend that Darshan undergo a surgery to address medical issues related to his spine and feet..Nagesh told the Court that Darshan was feeling complete numbness in both his feet and urged the Court to allow him to undergo surgery at the private Apollo Hospital in Mysuru. Nagesh submitted that Darshan will undertake to pay for all medical expenses incurred at the private facility.Darshan’s application for interim bail, however, was opposed by the State Public Prosecutor. Kumar told the Court that while the actor’s medical reports recommended surgery, they did not provide specifics of how many days Darshan will be admitted at the hospital. Kumar also insisted that Darshan undergo the surgery at a government hospital..The Court, however, took note of the Supreme Court judgements cited by Nagesh and said that the State cannot dictate where an undertrial accused can seek medical treatment.It also asked Nagesh why Darshan was insisting on getting the operation done at Mysuru.“Why Mysuru? Let a doctor examine you in Bengaluru and tell us how urgent is the surgery and for how many days you will need to be admitted. Interim bail is for a limited period of time and we need to know how many days you will need,” the Court said..While Nagesh argued that Darshan should be examined by a surgeon at the private hospital in Mysuru, Kumar urged the Court to direct Darshan to be examined by a medical board or a panel of doctors from a State-run hospital.The Court then said it will pronounce orders on the interim bail application on October 30..The dead body of 33-year-old auto-driver Renukaswamy was found on June 9. It is alleged that he died owing to injuries sustained in an attack carried out on Darshan's instructions. The actor allegedly called upon his fans to accost Renukaswamy for making derogatory comments against his alleged partner, Pavithra Gowda, on social media.Darshan was arrested on June 11 and is currently lodged in the Ballari Prison. He had filed a bail application on September 21. A sessions court recently refused to grant bail to the actor, his co-accused Pavithra Gowda, and two others in the case.He subsequently moved the Karnataka High Court in appeal, and filed a separate application to be released on interim bail to treat his spine-related ailments.