The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Sharad Kalaskar, a convict in the 2013 killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale allowed the plea on a surety of Rs 50,000 and refused the prosecution’s request to stay the order. The detailed order is awaited.
Kalaskar had challenged his conviction before the high court and sought bail pending the hearing of his appeal through lawyer Shubhada Khot. With bail granted in the Dabholkar case, he can leave jail after completing formalities.
Dabholkar, founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead during a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013, by two motorcycle-borne assailants.
The probe was first handled by local police and later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2014 after a petition by his daughter, Mukta Dabholkar.
On May 10, 2024, a sessions court convicted Kalaskar and Sachin Andure and sentenced them to life imprisonment. They were acquitted of charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.
The court also cleared Virendra Singh Tawde, Sanjiv Punalekar and Vikram Bhave for lack of evidence.
Mukta Dabholkar has challenged the acquittals and the exclusion of UAPA charges before the high court, stating the killing was part of a wider conspiracy by right-wing extremists.
Kalaskar is also an accused in the killing of Govind Pansare and had secured bail in that case in October last year.
Dabholkar’s killing was followed by similar attacks: Pansare in 2015, Kannada scholar M. M. Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017.
