India's Supreme Court upholds bail order for man accused of murdering journalist – JURIST

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the bail order granted to the accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

The court noted that the accused Mohan Nayak had cooperated with the authorities and added in its order:

In the circumstances, we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned orders of the Supreme Court. However, it is directed that the Court should conduct the hearing expeditiously and all the parties should cooperate with the Court to complete the hearing.

The accused was released on bail by the Karnataka State High Court in December 2023.

Gauri Lankesh, a prominent Indian journalist and critic of right-wing extremism, was murdered outside her home in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on September 5, 2017. Lankesh was known for her outspoken opposition to communism and her death sparked widespread outrage and protests across India. Investigations revealed that her murder was premeditated and linked to a radical extremist network. Several people were arrested and the case raised concerns about the safety of journalists and India's growing intolerance of dissent.

India ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index. According to RSF, India is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. On average, three to four journalists are killed there each year. Critics of the Indian government face online harassment, threats, physical attacks, prosecution and arbitrary arrests. Violence against them comes from the police, political activists, criminal groups and corrupt officials.

Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the Delhi Police to drop its investigation into three journalists from The Caravan, an Indian journalism platform. CPJ urged the police to focus on investigating those responsible for the attacks on these journalists during the 2020 Delhi riots.