Vinay Kulkarni Moves Karnataka HC for Bail as CBI Witnesses Turn Hostile

Senior Congress MLA and former Karnataka minister Vinay Kulkarni, the prime accused in the cold-blooded 2016 murder of BJP zila panchayat member Yogesh Gowda, has knocked on the doors of the Karnataka High Court in a desperate bid for freedom after spending more than six months in judicial custody. The Dharwad strongman, once considered among the most powerful political figures in north Karnataka, moved the court on Thursday challenging the repeated rejection of bail by the Special Court for Elected Representatives, arguing that the prosecution’s case has virtually collapsed.

Appearing before Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav’s single-judge bench, senior advocate C V Nagesh launched a blistering attack on the CBI’s evidence, revealing that almost the entire chain of eyewitnesses cited by the agency has turned hostile in the witness box. He contended that when star witnesses have disowned their own police statements and no longer support the prosecution narrative, there remains no legal or moral justification to keep a sitting legislator behind bars during trial. Nagesh demanded urgent listing and immediate interim bail, asserting that continued detention has become punitive rather than preventive.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which dramatically arrested Kulkarni in November 2020 after taking over the probe from state police, strongly opposed any relief. The agency’s counsel pleaded for time to file comprehensive objections, hinting that fresh digital and circumstantial evidence still tightly links the MLA to the conspiracy. Acknowledging the complexity, the court granted the CBI’s request and adjourned the matter to December 18, prolonging Kulkarni’s wait inside Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara central prison.

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The gruesome daylight murder of Yogesh Gowda on June 15, 2016 in the heart of Dharwad had sent shockwaves across Karnataka, instantly acquiring political overtones given the bitter rivalry between the Congress and BJP camps in the region. After years of allegations of state-level cover-up, the investigation was handed over to the CBI in September 2019. The federal agency’s charge sheet named Kulkarni as the alleged mastermind, leading to his arrest and a marathon legal fight that has now reached a decisive phase.

With the trial entering its final stages and the prosecution’s once-formidable witness lineup crumbling, political circles in Karnataka are on edge. A favourable High Court order on December 18 could not only release Kulkarni but also deliver a severe blow to the CBI’s credibility in handling high-profile political murder cases. For now, the former minister’s fate rests on the outcome of the next hearing, as both Congress and BJP cadres closely monitor every development in this nine-year-old saga of blood and power.

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