Bombay High Court grants bail to another convict in Narendra Dabholkar murder case

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sachin Prakashrao Andure, convicted for the 2013 murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar. 

A Bench of Justices SV Kotwal and RR Bhonsale invoked the principle of parity with co-convict Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar. It also suspended Andure's life sentence pending the final disposal of his appeal against conviction.

Senior Advocate Niteen Pradhan, appearing for Andure, submitted that the prosecution’s case rested on an uncorroborated extra-judicial confession. He pointed out that no formal Test Identification Parade (TIP) was conducted to confirm his identity and that the murder weapon was never recovered in connection with the crime.

Andure was released on grounds similar to his co-convict Kalaskar. In an order passed on April 29 this year, Kalaskar was granted bail by a co-ordinate bench of the High Court. 

The Bench noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to conduct a TIP. This rendered the identification of the accused through photos shown while in custody to be legally compromised. The Court had also noted that Kalaskar had served over seven-and-a-half years in custody with little prospect of the appeal being heard in the near future.

Now both the convicts in the case have been granted bail till the pendency of the their appeal.

The case arises from 2013 when Dr Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on a bridge in Pune. The probe was initially handled by the Pune Police before being transferred to the CBI in 2014 following High Court directions. 

The trial commenced in September 2021. In May 2024, a Pune sessions court convicted Kalaskar and Andure of murder, handing them life sentences.

However, the trial court acquitted three co-accused for lack of evidence. Those included alleged mastermind Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, Advocate Sanjiv Punalekar and activist Vikram Bhave for lack of evidence. All individuals were linked to the right-wing charitable trust, Sanatan Sanstha.

Appeals against these acquittals are also pending in the High Court.