MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to Sachin Andure, who was convicted in the 2013 murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale suspended Andure’s life sentence pending appeal and granted him bail on the grounds of “parity” with co-convict Sharad Kalaskar, who was granted bail by the HC on April 29.Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, in Pune while on his morning walk. In May 2014, the HC transferred the probe to the CBI, observing that the investigation by the Crime Branch (Pune) had reached a dead end.On a plea by Dabholkar’s family, the HC began monitoring the probe in August 2015 and stopped it in April 2024.The trial commenced before a special UAPA court in 2021. In May 2024, judge PP Jadhav convicted Kalaskar and Andure and sentenced them to life imprisonment.He acquitted three others, including alleged mastermind Virendrasin Tawade, lawyer Sanjiv Gajanan Punalekar and activist Vikram Bhave, citing insufficient evidence.Allowing Andure’s interim application, the judges directed him to furnish a Rs 50,000 personal bond with sureties in the like amount. They directed him to attend the concerned police station in Pune every month for a year and thereafter till his appeal is disposed of.While the CBI, in its February 2019 chargesheet, cited two eyewitnesses, Kiran Kamble and Vinay Kelkar, and claimed that they had seen Kalaskar and Andure shoot at Dabholkar, senior advocate Niteen Pradhan, appearing for Andure, argued that an extra-judicial confession was recorded.There was no test identification parade (TIP) conducted and there was no recovery of the weapon, he argued.While granting bail to Kalaskar, the HC had observed that the CBI did not conduct Kalaskar’s TIP and that identification by showing photographs to witnesses while he was already in custody “loses its sanctity”.The HC had also observed that Kalaskar was behind bars for over seven and a half years and the likelihood of his appeal being disposed of in the near future was remote.Therefore, he deserved to be enlarged on bail. Similarly, the HC on Tuesday granted Andure parity with Kalaskar and directed his release on bail. The order copy will be uploaded in due course.
