Three key suspects in the Govind Pansare murder case receive bail from the Bombay High Court.
The Kolhapur bench of the Bombay High Court has granted bail to three prime accused in the murder of Govind Pansare, a leader of the Communist Party of India. The decision, reported by Live Law, was made by Justice Shivkumar Dige, who allowed bail for Virendra Tawade, Sharad Kalaskar, and Amol Kale.
Govind Pansare, known for his rationalist views, was shot on February 16, 2015, by two unidentified gunmen while returning home from a morning walk in Kolhapur. Pansare succumbed to his injuries four days later, prompting widespread condemnation and calls for justice.
Earlier this year, in January, the High Court had granted bail to six other individuals accused in connection with Pansare’s murder. This included Sachin Andure, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degvekar, Amit Baddi, Bharat Kurane, and Vasudev Suryavanshi. The court cited the prolonged incarceration of these individuals, the extensive number of witnesses involved—over 250—and the slow pace of the trial as reasons for their release.
Notably, Tawade, Kalaskar, and Andure have also been implicated in the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar. In May 2024, a Pune court found Kalaskar and Andure guilty in the Dabholkar case, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Tawade, on the other hand, was acquitted, a decision that has been contested by Dabholkar’s family.
Govind Pansare’s daughter, Smita Pansare, has been vocal about the investigation’s slow progress. She approached the High Court, expressing concerns that the murders of her father and other prominent activists—including Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh—were interconnected and possibly orchestrated by a common group. Her arguments highlighted the notion that these individuals were targeted due to their opposition to right-wing ideologies.
Kalburgi, an anti-superstition activist and recipient of the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi award, was killed in August 2015 at his home in Karnataka. Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken critic of Hindutva groups and editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was murdered in September 2017 as she returned home from work in Bengaluru. The investigations into these murders have been intertwined, with various suspects appearing in multiple cases.
In 2019, the Special Investigation Team that was looking into Kalburgi’s murder filed a chargesheet naming six individuals, including Suryavanshi and Baddi, who are also implicated in Pansare’s murder. All six were further identified as suspects in the Lankesh murder case, indicating a complex web of alleged criminal activity among the accused.
The High Court’s decision to grant bail to the accused marks a significant moment in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the high-profile murders of these activists, who were known for their critical views on superstition and right-wing extremism in India.
