A special court in Bengaluru on Friday sentenced Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni to life imprisonment in connection with his role in the 2016 murder of BJP leader Yogesh Gowda from Dharwad..The court had on April 15 convicted the Congress MLA and 15 others in the 2016 murder case. The sentence for the crime was pronounced this evening by special court judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat..Yogesh Gowda, a BJP leader and former member of the Dharwad Zila Panchayat, was brutally killed at his gym in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Following the murder, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Dharwad Suburban Police Station. .The CBI investigated the case and filed a chargesheet for offences of criminal conspiracy, murder, public servant disobeying law to shield an accused, destruction of evidence, unlawful assembly and rioting with deadly weapons, illegal possession and trafficking of arms and public servant's misconduct for undue gain..Kulkarni was arrested by the CBI on November 5, 2020. On August 11, 2021, the Supreme Court granted him conditional bail. However, on June 7, 2025, the Supreme Court cancelled his bail, observing that there was credible evidence of his attempting to contact or influence witnesses during the trial.Charges were framed against the accused on May 26, 2023..On April 15, the court held that the accused, including Vikram Bellary (A2), Keerthi Kumar (A3), Sandeep Savadatti (A4), Vinayak Katagi (A5), Mahabaleshwar Hongal alias Mudaka (A6), Santosh Savadatti (A7), Dinesh M (A8), S Ashwath (A9), KS Sunil (A10), Nazir Ahmed (A11), Shanwaz (A12), K Nutan (A13), C Harshit (A14), Vinay Kulkarni (A15), Chandrasekhar Indi alias Chandru Mama (A16), Vikas Kalaburgi (A18) and Channakesava Tingarikar (A19) had entered into a criminal conspiracy to murder Gowda.Hence, it convicted them under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).Today, the Court sentenced accused Nos. 2 to 16 and 18 to life imprisonment for these offences and ordered them to pay a fine of ₹30,000 each. Kulkarni is Accused No. 15..The sentences pronounced with respect to other offences include:- For the offence under Section 143 (unlawful assembly) of IPC, Accused No.s 2-14 and 18 have been sentenced to simple imprisonment for 6 months, and a fine of ₹2,000 each.- For the offence under Section 147 (rioting), Accused No.s 2-14, and 18 have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 1 year, with a fine of ₹2,000 each.- For the offence under Section 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), Accused No.s 2-14, and 18 have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 1 year, with a fine of ₹2,000 each.- For the offence under Section 201(destruction of evidence), Accused Nos. 2 to 16, 18 and 19 were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 7 years, with a fine of ₹30,000..The court clarified that all the jail terms will run concurrently (at the same time, not one after another). Out of the fines that the convicts have been ordered to pay, an amount of ₹16 lakhs is to be paid to the children of Yogesh Gowda as compensation while the remaining amounts will be forfeited to the State, the court added. .Vinay Kulkarni and Chandrasekhar Indi were acquitted of charges under the Arms Act (firearms law). Two of the accused Vasudev Rama Nilekani, and Somashekhar Nyamagowda (Accused No.s 20 and 21) were acquitted on the benefit of doubt.Notably, the court has also granted liberty to the prosecution to file an application seeking sanction to prosecute approver-turned-witness Shivanand Srishaila Biradar, who turned hostile during trial. It also directed the registry to initiate proceedings under Section 340 of the CrPC (perjury/forgery in court proceedings) against certain police and independent witnesses..Judgment copy awaited.
