Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP)

Dharwad, Jan 22: Former minister, Vinay Kulkarni, who is under arrest relating to the murder of Hubballi zilla panchayat member Yogesh Gowda, had been seeking his bail application for long. The Dharwad bench of the high court, on Thursday January 21, quashed his bail plea.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials had arrested Kulkarni on November 4 relating to the murder of Yogesh Gowda. Later, the CBI team had taken him into custody for three days, after which Kulkarni was remanded to judicial custody. Later, the bail application filed by Kulkarni had been refused by the spepcial CBI court here.

Questioning this rejection, Vinay had moved an application in the Dharwad bench of the high court seeking bail. The single judge bench of the high court chaired by Justice N Nataraja, which heard the petition, noted that the murder case is still in the investigation stage and the investigating officers are yet to file charge sheet in the court. Under these circumstances, it is not advisable to grant bail to the petitioner, the bench opined before rejecting the petition.

Advocates representing Vinay Kulkarni said that they will discuss the matter with senior legal experts and file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the said order.