Karnataka court grants bail to BJP MLA Byrathi Basavaraj in murder case

A trial court in Bengaluru on Thursday granted bail to BJP Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly (MLA) Byrathi Basavaraj in the Biklu Shiva murder case [BA Basavaraja v State by Bharathinagar Police].

Special judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat granted bail, subject to Basavaraj furnishing a personal bond of ₹ 2 lakhs.

Among other bail conditions, the MLA has also been warned not to intimidate or attempt to influence witnesses, and not to leave the country jurisdiction without permission.

Basavaraj was also ordered to appear before the police every month for the next three months.

The court granted bail after finding that further custodial interrogation of the MLA did not appear necessary.

Basavaraj is among those accused in the murder of a rowdy sheeter named Shivaprakash, also known as Biklu Shiva, who was killed in front of his residence by several assailants on July 15, 2025, amid a land dispute.

The MLA was named the fifth accused in the case, on allegations that he was in touch with Jagadish, a rowdy sheeter and a prime accused, who is alleged to have met Shiva several times before his death and had a history of enmity with him.

The deceased, Biklu Shiva, and Jagadish are alleged to have been rivals in the real estate industry. MLA Basavaraj has been accused of being a conspirator in the murder case.

Basavaraj was arrested in February after the Supreme Court dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail. He was remanded to judicial custody.

He later applied for regular bail.

The trial court allowed his plea on March 12. Judge Bhat noted that the material cited against Basavaraj to implicate him in the murder case did not appear to be strong.

"It is always relevant to note that confession statement of a co-accused is a very weak type of evidence and at best it can only lend assurance to the case of the prosecution and nothing more than that can be referred into," the order stated.

Referring to call records cited by the State to claim that the MLA and Jagadish were in touch before the murder, the court observed that the call data records (CDRs) have to be examined during trial and not at the stage of bail.

The court also rejected arguments that Basavaraj has not cooperated with the investigation and has given vague and misleading replies during custodial interrogation.

"It is the settled principles of law that the accused is having right to keep silence even during the course of his interrogation. Even otherwise, it would not be appropriate for the Investigating Agency to expect that the accused would confess of committing the offences," the court pointed out.

The court further noted that Basavaraj cannot be termed a flight risk as he had deep roots in society and was unlikely to flee.

"The last limb of submissions made by the prosecution with respect to flight risk also does not survives for consideration by noticing the fact that the petitioner is having deep roots in the society and also there are no criminal antecedents alleged against him," it said, and proceeded to grant the MLA bail.

Senior Advocate Sandesh Chouta and Advocate Hemanth Kumar D appeared for Basavaraj.

Special Public Prosecutor Ashok N Naik represented the State.

[Read Order]