Supreme Court cancels Olympian Sushil Kumar's bail in murder case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar, who stands accused of murdering another wrestler, Sagar Dhankhad, in 2021 [Ashok Dhankad v. State NCT of Delhi].

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra passed the order, setting aside the Delhi High Court's March 4 decision to grant bail to Kumar.

Kumar has been ordered to surrender back to jail within a week.

The top court held that the High Court had erred in granting Kumar bail.

"The (High) Court errored by inter alia, not considering the grievous nature of the crime, the possibility of influencing the trial by the Accused and the conduct of the accused during investigation," it observed.

The Bench also pointed out Kumar had evaded arrest for days before he was eventually apprehended, after non-bailable warrants were issued. Referring to the seriousness of the allegations against the accused wrestler, the Court added,

"As per the allegations in the FIR, the national capital was made into a criminal playground to settle scores, with no regard for the law of the land. The accused persons, allegedly abducted certain individuals; violently attacked them with dangerous weapons; and caused grievous injuries. The injuries were of such nature that they resulted in the unfortunate death of the Complainant’s son (Sagar Dhankhad)."

Moreover, it was noted that Kumar held significant influence, and that his actions had a societal impact since he was a celebrated wrestler and Olympian. The Court added that witnesses had also expressed apprehensions that there would be a threat to their lives if Kumar is allowed to remain on bail.

"Certain witnesses had, in writing lodged complaints, apprehending threat to their lives at the behest of the Accused," the Court noted.

Kumar is among those accused of taking Sagar Dhankhad to Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium at gunpoint and beating him up mercilessly, leading to his death in May 2021.

During trial court proceedings, Dhankad's father claimed that Kumar had a “clear motive” to “eliminate” Dhankhad because he was a rising star who could in all possibility “dethrone the supremacy” of the veteran wrestler. 

Kumar was arrested on May 23, 2021 after he absconded for around 20 days. He was granted interim bail on three occasions, at the end of which he surrendered and went back to jail. He eventually filed a regular bail application before the Delhi High Court in 2024 which was allowed by the Court in March this year.

The High Court noted that although the charges against Kumar were grave, there were delays in the trial against him. Since the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future, and since Kumar had by then remained imprisoned for over three years, the Court proceeded to grant him bail.

This was challenged before the Supreme Court by Dhankad's family by way of an appeal.

The top court today noted that one of the factors considered by the High Court while granting bail was that Kumar had returned to jail each time his interim bail period had expired.

However, it pointed out that the State has claimed that each time Kumar was released on interim bail, witnesses in the case turned hostile. The Court said that it was not giving any seal of approval to the State's theory that Kumar was responsible for such witnesses turning hostile. Nevertheless, it added,

"This pattern underscores the possibility of interference into the trial by the Accused. Noticeably, out of 35 witnesses examined, 28 have turned hostile."

It proceeded to allow the appeal and cancelled the bail granted to Kumar.

[Read Order]