Overview
- Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav dismissed the Congress MLA’s fresh bail plea on January 27, holding that judicial propriety bars lower courts from re-granting bail cancelled by the apex court.
- The High Court ruled that arguments about a change in circumstances do not apply where bail was revoked for breach of conditions.
- Kulkarni’s earlier bail was cancelled by the Supreme Court on June 6, 2025 over alleged attempts to influence witnesses, and he was taken back into custody on June 14, 2025.
- The CBI alleges in a supplementary chargesheet that Kulkarni was the main conspirator in the 2016 murder of BJP worker Yogesh Gouda, a case with 21 accused after the probe moved to the agency in 2019.
- Defense counsel argued that key witnesses have been examined and co-accused are out on bail, while the court noted it was not ruling on the merits and that any fresh relief must be sought from the Supreme Court.