Supreme Court cancels Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni’s bail in murder case

New Delhi: In a setback for former minister and Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, the Supreme Court Friday cancelled the bail granted to him in relation to BJP zilla panchayat member Yogeshgowdar murder case on grounds of attempts to influence witnesses. He was directed to surrender before the trial court or the jail authority within a month's time."It would suffice to state that there is sufficient material on record to suggest that attempts have been made by the respondent to either contact witnesses or, alternatively, influence them," a vacation bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sathish Chandra Sharma said while allowing the application filed by the state govt through CBI, the agency which investigated the case. The trial court has been directed to make attempts to conclude the trial expeditiously.The apex court granted bail to Kulkarni, accused number 15 in the case, on Aug 13, 2021, by imposing several conditions, including barring his entry into Dharwad district and also not to influence any witnesses. The CBI approached the trial court in Dec last year, seeking cancellation of his bail on grounds that Kulkarni and co-accused Chandrashekar attempted to contact two witnesses through their friends to depose against the prosecution. Though the trial court cancelled Chandrashekar's bail, it declined to do the same in Kulkarni's case, pointing out that since bail was granted by SC, it has no jurisdiction in the matter.