Pramesh S Jain
Amid heavy public presence,the 57th Sessions Court in Bengaluru on Monday framed charges against actor Darshan Thoogudeepa,Pavithra Gowda,and other accused in the sensational Renukaswamy murder case.
Tight security was in place as the accused were brought to court.
The courtroom was packed with lawyers and the public, prompting the judge to instruct everyone except the defence counsel to vacate the hall to ensure smooth proceedings.
Senior advocate Balan appeared on behalf of Pavithra Gowda, while advocate Sunil represented Darshan.
The judge began by verifying the presence of all accused,including Pavithra Gowda,Darshan,Dhanaraj, Vinay,Nagaraj,Lakshman,Deepak,Pradosh,Karthik, Keshavamurthy,and Nikhil Naik.
The judge read out the charges,which included allegations of kidnapping,assault,extortion,and murder of Renukaswamy.
The court noted that the accused had allegedly conspired to kidnap Renukaswamy, assault him at a shed,and subsequently cause his death.
Both Darshan and Pavithra Gowda reportedly responded emotionally, asserting that all the charges were false.
The judge then adjourned the trial to November 10, marking the completion of the charge-framing process.
Court staff later obtained the signatures of all accused on the charge documents before they were escorted back to jail under police custody.
In a brief emotional moment during the proceedings, Darshan and Pavithra Gowda were seen speaking to each other—reportedly the first time they had interacted face-to-face since their arrest two months ago.
Pavithra’s daughter also arrived at court accompanied by her grandmother to catch a glimpse of her mother.
