Actor Darshan Re-Arrested Hours After SC Cancels Bail In Renukaswamy Murder Case

The Supreme Court reversed the Karnataka High Court’s decision, calling it “illogical and perverse” and stating that “no man should think he was above law.”

August 14, 2025: The Supreme Court told the police to arrest Kannada actor Darshan Thogudeepa and his live-in partner, actress Pavithra Gowda, again on Thursday. The highest court in the land took away the bail that the Karnataka High Court had given to the two people in the shocking Renukaswamy murder case.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench said the High Court’s judgment was “illogical and perverse.” The court stressed that the bail decision was a “mechanical exercise of power” and may have an effect on the trial by swaying witnesses. “The High Court order shows a mechanical use of power. “The grant of bail will affect the trial, and the witnesses can be influenced,” the bench said.

On June 11, 2024, police arrested Darshan and Gowda for their supposed roles in the murder of Renukaswamy. The 3,991-page chargesheet says that Darshan admitted to kidnapping and torturing Renukaswamy after he allegedly sent Gowda sexual texts. On June 8, Renukaswamy’s body was recovered in a gutter in Bengaluru.

The Karnataka High Court gave the actor bail on December 13, 2015, after he had been in jail for five months as the main suspect. After the Supreme Court’s decision, Gowda was also taken into custody at her home in Bengaluru, where she was clearly upset by the media presence as police led her away.