Overview

• The Karnataka High Court stayed a police summons and any coercive steps against an advocate linked to a 2003 missing-person complaint, setting the next hearing for October 8.
• Justice Sachin Magadum’s bench cited protections for lawyers, including Section 132 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and an ED circular discouraging summons that could breach attorney–client confidentiality.
• The SIT on Wednesday summoned Vittal Gowda and re-documented the Banglegudda/Nethravathi ghat area in a fresh mahazar tied to skeletal remains previously linked to complainant C.N. Chinnaiah.
• Local residents challenged a claim that 56 skeletal remains were found at the site, prompting brief tensions during the inspection that police and journalists helped defuse.
• Investigators report limited recoveries across the 13 locations searched, Chinnaiah remains in custody on perjury-related charges, and a skull he produced was identified as an old laboratory specimen; relatives of 2012 victims have renewed requests for reinvestigation with the SIT.