The Third Judicial Magistrate First Class Renuka Devidas Raikar on Saturday rejected the bail application of Kasturi News Channel reporter Naveen Soorinje, who has been arrested in connection with the July 28 attack on men and women attending a birthday party.
Mr. Soorinje was arrested by the police following issuance of a non-bailable warrant. The court issued the warrant against Mr. Soorinje after he was shown as absconding by the police while filing a charge sheet against 44 persons in connection with the attack.
The Mangalore Rural police arrested Mr. Soorinje on November 7 night while he was returning after covering an event of the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. Mr. Soorinje is among the 29 persons arrested so far. Mr. Soorinje had filed the bail application under Section 437 of CPC on November 8.
In her order, the magistrate observed that the offences alleged against Mr. Soorinje and other accused were exclusively triable by the sessions court. Moreover, the magistrate said, the sessions court had already rejected the bail applications filed by the other accused arrested in the case. There was also a public interest litigation petition pending in the High Court. There were no sufficient grounds to release Mr. Soorinje on bail, the magistrate said.
‘Trial needed’
Turning down Mr. Soorinje’s contention that he merely acted as a reporter, the magistrate observed that whether Mr. Soorinje acted merely as a reporter or was part of the unlawful assembly could only be decided after a full-fledged trial. The charge sheet and the prosecution material revealed that Mr. Soorinje was present at the time of the incident and was a part of the unlawful assembly, the magistrate said.
