# Bombay HC grants bail to second convict in Dabholkar murder 2026-08-18T08:22:14+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets (4 source reports) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sachin Andure, convicted in the 2013 murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, and suspended his life sentence pending appeal. A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale allowed his interim application. Andure, who is also facing trial in the Govind Pansare murder case, can now walk out of jail as he has secured bail in both cases. Andure was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court on May 10, 2024, along with co-convict Sharad Kalaskar, but both were acquitted of charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act. The high court had earlier granted bail to Kalaskar in April this year. The court expressed serious doubts about the CBI's method of identifying Andure through photographs rather than a test identification parade, Hindustan Times reports. Dabholkar's daughter Mukta has filed an appeal challenging the acquittals and the exclusion of UAPA charges, alleging a larger conspiracy by right-wing extremists. The Hindu notes that the killing was the first in a chain of murders of rationalists, including Pansare, MM Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com - hindustantimes.com (2) - thehindu.com - nationalheraldindia.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T08:32:07+00:00. Tags: Bombay High Court, CBI, Narendra Dabholkar, Sachin Andure Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-hc-grants-bail-to-second-convict-in-dabholkar-murder-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-hc-grants-bail-to-second-convict-in-dabholkar-murder-case/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/