Prime accused in Govind Pansare murder case granted bail

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three prime accused in the murder of Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare, reported Live Law.

Justice Shivkumar Dige of the Kolhapur bench of the High Court granted bail to Virendra Tawade, Sharad Kalaskar and Amol Kale.

Pansare, a rationalist, was shot by two unidentified gunmen on his way home from a morning walk in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015. He died four days later.

In January, the High Court approved bail for six other persons accused in the matter – Sachin Andure, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degvekar, Amit Baddi, Bharat Kurane and Vasudev Suryavanshi – citing their prolonged incarceration, the presence of more than 250 witnesses in the case and the trial’s slow progress.

Three persons accused of involvement in Pansare’s killing – Tawade, Kalaskar and Andure – were also named in the case involving the killing of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar.

In May 2024, a Pune court convicted Kalaskar and Andure in the Dabholkar murder case, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Tawade was among persons who were acquitted in the matter. The acquittals have been challenged by Dabholkar’s family.

Dabholkar, a rationalist and founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead in Pune in August 2013.

The High Court in January halted the judicial monitoring of the investigation in Pansare’s...

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