Narendra Dabholkar murder: Second convict gets bail, sentence suspended

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to Sachin Andure, one of two men convicted for assassinating rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, and suspended his life sentence pending an appeal. Dr Dabholkar's daughter, Mukta, expressed concern over the decision, stating that the family would appeal to the Supreme Court. The court's decision to grant bail was based on a comparison with Sharad Kalaskar, the other convicted assailant, who was also released on bail by the High Court on April 29.

The court noted that no Test Identification Parade took place in Kalaskar's case, and his seven and a half years in custody made his appeal unlikely to be resolved soon. Both convicts have appealed against their conviction, and those appeals are still under consideration by the High Court. The Dabholkar family, along with Mukta and her brother Dr Hamid Dabholkar, plans to challenge the bail order of both convicts in the Supreme Court.

The Pune Police initially investigated the murder and handed it to the CBI in 2014, with the High Court taking over the investigation in August 2015. The trial commenced in September 2021 after charges were framed against five accused.