On Wednesday (January 29), the Bombay High Court granted bail to six men accused in the murder of Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare, who was allegedly shot dead in August 2013.

Single-judge Justice Anil Kilor granted bail to the six accused—Sachin Andure, Vasudev Suryavanshi, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degvekar, Amit Baddi, and Bharat Kurane—after noting that they have already spent over six years in jail.

Confirming the development, advocate Siddh Vidya, who represented the accused, said, "The court granted bail to all my clients on the ground of long incarceration. The court has also noted the fact that as on date at least 250 witnesses are yet to be examined, which would mean that the trial would not be concluded in near future."

Vidya further mentioned that the judge did not hear the bail application of prime accused Virendrasinh Tawade. Notably, Govind Pansare, who was 82 at the time of his murder, was shot dead alongside his wife, Uma. The couple was returning from their daily morning walk in Samrat Nagar, Kolhapur, where they lived, when two masked motorcyclists, wearing helmets, suddenly opened fire on them in August 2013, killing them both.

By 2016, charge sheets were filed against the prime accused, Sameer Gaikwad and Virendrasinh Tawade. In 2019, four others—Amol Kale, Vasudeo Suryavanshi, Amit Degvekar, and Bharat Kurane—were also chargesheeted.

The accused have been booked under charges of murder, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, and violations of the Arms Act.

Although six accused have been charge-sheeted since 2015, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been unable to trace the weapons used in the crime, the getaway bike, or the absconding alleged shooters, Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar. In light of this, a division bench of the High Court transferred the investigation to the State Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2022.

Since 2015, the High Court had been monitoring investigations into the killings of Pansare and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, who was allegedly murdered by right-wing extremists in a similar manner. However, the Pansare family expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the investigations. They argued that, like the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the State Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had failed to properly probe the role of "Sanatan Sanstha," a right-wing extremist group, in the murders of Pansare, Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi, and journalist Gauri Lankesh.