The Karnataka High Court has dismissed actor Darshan’s plea against granting mercy to co-accused Pradosh

One of the main contentions raised in Darshan’s petition was that Pradosh communicated with his wife and other persons outside the jail and was influenced to become an approver. | Photo credit: File photo

Actor Darshan suffered a setback when the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed his plea against the trial court’s decision to pardon co-accused Pradosh and turn him into an approver in the Renukaswamy murder case.

Passing the order, Justice V. Srishananada reiterated the principles of law that the co-accused in the case have no right to challenge the pardon granted to the accused as they only have the right to cross-examine the approver during the trial after cross-examination by the prosecution.

One of the main contentions raised in Darshan’s petition was that Pradosh communicated with his wife and other persons outside the jail and was influenced to become an approver.

In support of this claim, Darshana’s counsel said that the jail authorities had recently filed a complaint alleging that Pradosh had been communicating with his wife using a mobile phone by falsely claiming that the phone number belonged to one of his advocates.

However, the prosecution claimed that Pradosh did not use a mobile phone in jail. Instead, he phoned through the prison’s official landline, in accordance with prison rules, and listed three cell phone numbers as those of his defense attorneys to facilitate communication with them and others.

The prosecution further pointed out that the jail authorities had alleged in their complaint that Pradosh had falsely claimed one of the three mobile phone numbers as belonging to his lawyer as he was said to have been talking to his wife on that number.

In an interesting argument, Pradosh’s lawyer asked what was wrong with Pradosh talking to his wife when Darshan was communicating with his wife who had filed the present petition on his behalf.

Meanwhile, the court found no fault in Pradosh talking to his wife using a mobile number which was officially notified to the jail authorities.

Published – 23 Sep 2026 20:44 IST