Overview
- Kalaskar, convicted in May 2024 for the 2013 killing of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, won interim bail on Wednesday after the Bombay High Court suspended his life sentence.
- The bench questioned how he was identified, noting witnesses were shown photographs instead of a proper test identification parade and flagging a TIP held in a CBI officer’s chamber as improper.
- The judges cast doubt on two claimed eyewitnesses, pointing to delayed reports to police and vantage points that undercut reliability, which they said weakened the case tying Kalaskar to the shooting.
- The court set a Rs 50,000 bond and monthly reporting at Pune’s Deccan police station, refused a four‑week stay sought to approach the Supreme Court, and cited his custody since September 2018 plus likely delay in hearing the appeal.
- Dr Dabholkar’s family said Thursday they will ask the Supreme Court to overturn the bail, stressing their claim of a wider conspiracy linked to right‑wing groups after a 2024 trial that acquitted three others and dropped UAPA and Arms Act counts.