Overview
- An elected-representatives special court ordered Basavaraj’s release on a Rs 2 lakh personal bond with two sureties and barred him from influencing witnesses or leaving the court’s jurisdiction without permission.
- Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat called co-accused confessions a weak form of evidence and said there was no positive overt act linking the MLA to the alleged conspiracy at this stage.
- The court rejected treating the victim’s February 2025 threat complaint as a dying declaration and found the cited Kumbh Mela trip evidence immaterial since no conspiracy was alleged then.
- The CID has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate KCOCA charges that the Karnataka High Court quashed on December 19, 2025, with hearings adjourned and a full hearing slated for April 15.
- Eighteen other accused are seeking default bail in the High Court over charge-sheet timing, and Basavaraj is the first of the 20 accused to be granted bail in the case.