In the Renukaswamy murder case, the Supreme Court, while canceling the bail of Kannada film actor Darshan, said that legal accountability cannot be exempted by seeing a person’s position or influence. On Thursday (August 14, 2025), the Supreme Court canceled the bail of all the accused, including Darshan and directed them to surrender.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan said that famous celebrities are such role models which have great responsibility. In the last hearing on 24 July, the Supreme Court reserved the verdict. The Karnataka government had challenged the High Court’s decision, on which the Supreme Court had also expressed concern over the way the High Court of granting bail to Darshan. On July 24, the court said that we are not giving any decision to convict or acquit right now.
Yesterday, the bench gave the verdict, saying, ‘The Constitution of India ensures equality before the law under Article 14, and makes it mandatory that any person, no matter how rich, influential or popular, cannot claim exemption from law. The status of being a famous person does not raise an accused above the law, nor does he give him the right to preferred behavior in cases like bail.
The Karnataka High Court on 13 December last year granted bail to the other accused in the darshan and the case. The Supreme Court in the order of the High Court pointed to the serious flaws. The court said, “Despite the seriousness of the crime under Section 302 of the IPC and the allegations of conspiracy, the High Court failed to consider the defective material collected during the investigation.”
The Supreme Court said that even if the accused have been in custody for more than 140 days or they have displayed good conduct after release, this does not make the order of bail continuously, especially due to non -considering physical factors at the stage of granting bail. The court also underlined the presence of allegations of conspiracy, murder, destroying evidence and disappearing evidence in the current case.
It was reported that the bail was mainly given on the basis of the alleged serious medical condition of the actor. However, after examining his medical record and subsequent conduct, the Supreme Court said that this petition has been presented misleading, vague and exaggerated.
The bench said, ‘Popularity cannot be a shield of freedom from punishment. As this High Court has said, impact, resources and social status cannot become the basis of bail, where there is a real danger of an adverse effect on the investigation or the case. Justice Pardiwala said, “This decision gives the message that no matter how big the accused is, he is not above the law.”
He said, ‘There is a tough message in it that the system providing justice at any level should ensure that the rule of law remains. No person is above or below the law. Nor do we ask for permission of someone while following it. The demand of the hour is that the rule of law should be maintained at all times.
The court also warned the state government to provide special facilities to the jailed accused. The bench said, “The day we came to know that the accused is being given five star facility, the first step will be to suspend the Superintendent and all other officers.”
This decision has come on an appeal filed by the Government of Karnataka against the order of the High Court. Darshan is accused of kidnapping and harassing a fan named 33 -year -old Renukaswamy along with actress Pavitra Gowda and several others. Renukaswamy allegedly sent pornographic messages to Pavitra. Police alleged that Renukaswamy was kept in a shed in Bengaluru for three days in June 2024, and his body was recovered from a drain.