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The Supreme Court on Friday refused to allow Karnataka Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni to delay his surrender in connection with the 2016 murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, Live Law reported.
On June 6, the court had cancelled Kulkarni’s bail citing evidence suggesting he, along with another suspect, had tried to contact or influence witnesses, Deccan Herald reported.
He was directed to surrender within a week.
On Friday, the bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan rejected Kulkarni’s argument that he needed time to attend an official meeting scheduled for this week.
“I am seeking extension because I am a sitting MLA and chairman of the Karnataka Water Supply Board,” PTI quoted his lawyer as saying while asking for a one-week extension.
The Supreme Court’s June 6 order was passed in response to an appeal filed by the Karnataka government through the Central Bureau of Investigation, which challenged an April ruling by a Bengaluru court that had declined to cancel Kulkarni’s bail, PTI reported.
The trial court had stated it could not interfere in the matter, as the bail was granted through a Supreme Court order issued in August 2021.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that a trial court could entertain a request to cancel bail if conditions were violated, regardless of which court granted it.
Kulkarni was arrested by the CBI on November 5, 2020 for his alleged role in the murder of Yogesh Gowda. The BJP Zila Panchayat member was shot dead at a gym in Dharwad district in June 2016, Live Law reported.
The investigation was eventually handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation in September 2019, after the BJP came into power in the state.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni, who was the district in-charge minister at the time, allegedly viewed Gowda as a political threat in Dharwad and hired contract killers to have him eliminated, Deccan Herald reported.
Kulkarni has denied the allegations against him.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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