Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has directed his ACS to initiate measures to constitute a special court to hear the cases on the killings of Gauri and Kalburgi.
Kavitha Lankesh with her sister Gauri Lankesh
“I heaved a sigh of relief when I got to know that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had considered our request of constituting a special court for my sister’s and Kalburgi’s killings,” Kavitha Lankesh told South First on Thursday, 7 December.
A day earlier, the Karnataka chief minister directed the additional chief secretary — dealing with the internal administration, including the state’s home affairs — to initiate measures to constitute a special court to hear the cases of the assassinations of journalist Gauri Lankesh and progressive thinker and intellectual MM Kalburgi for speedy disposal.
Kavitha and Kalburgi’s son Srivijay had gone to meet Siddaramaiah around two-three weeks ago to request him to constitute such a special court.
Their request was based on a perceived inordinate delay in the ongoing hearings of the cases of the murders —especially on an administrative note.
Kavitha also requested for an assistant to be appointed for the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) to take care of the logistics. The chief minister is said to have acknowledged the issue and promised that he would look into what could be done.
The principal court has been hearing Gauri’s case for little over a year now — with five-day-long hearings each month.
There are around 450 witnesses to be examined by the court. Cross-examinations have been completed only for about 85 witnesses in one year.
“Going at this speed, it might take another five years for only the examination stage to be completed — after which we have to wait for orders, passing judgements, and if need be — going for appeals with the higher courts. This is a very lengthy process,” Kavitha Lankesh told South First.
SPP S Balan seconded Kavitha Lankesh when he said: “A special court should be constituted. There has already been a delay of five years. Justice delayed is justice denied. The court that is hearing Gauri’s murder is a regular Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) court.”
He added: “It is a principal-heavy court that would be in charge of administration, criminal cases, civil suits, and special cases. Even though, Gauri’s case is being heard five days a month, it would take another five years for the completion of the trial stage. If a special court is constituted, Gauri’s case can see light in one year. It would be a speedy disposal as the special court will have no other work than this work.”
Gauri Lankesh was shot at her house in West Bengaluru by two bike-borne men on 5 September, 2017, allegedly from the same gang that killed litterateur Kalburgi two years earlier at his residence in the Dharwad district.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case submitted its final and additional charge sheet of 9,235 pages in November 2018, and the prosecution had around 450 witnesses to be examined, along with evidence that needed to be produced before the court.
As all 17 accused have been also booked under the stringent KCOCA, they were all regularly denied bail.
The prime accused in the Gauri murder case were Amol Kale (touted as the mastermind, who identified Gauri as a target and coordinated the murder) and Parashuram Waghmore (who shot at Gauri).
The other accused were Amit Baddi, Suresh Kumar, Ganesh Miskin, Rajesh Bangera, Amit Degwekar, Mohan Nayak, KT Naveen Kumar (the first to be arrested in the case), Sujeeth Kumar, Manohar Edave, Bharath Kurne, Sharad Kalaskar, Shrikanth Pangarkar, Sudhanva Gondalekar, Rishikesh Dewerkar, and Vasudev Suryavamshi.
The SIT, in its charge sheet, named the right-wing radical organisation Sanatan Sanstha as a link between the accused. During the investigation.
The SIT was also apparently able to crack the murder case of scholar MM Kalburgi and uncover a sinister plan to eliminate other vocal writers like KS Bhagawan.
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