Renukaswamy murder case: Karnataka High Court faults trial court for seeking probation officer’s report before granting pardon to approver

The High Court of Karnataka has found fault with a trial court’s decision of seeking report from the Probationer Officer (PO) before granting pardon to Pradoosh, an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, and directed the trial court to pass a fresh order on the plea for pardon without referring to the report of the PO about the conduct of Pradoosh.

However, the High Court made it clear that the other accused, including actor Darshan, cannot challenge the order of the trial court granting pardon on its merit as the limited right of the other accused persons to challenge order of granting pardon under Section 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code to an accused turning approver, is restricted to question only its procedural aberration and not on its merit.