The Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (October 14, 2025) granted bail to three men accused in the 2015 killing of rationalist and author Govind Pansare, including alleged mastermind Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade. Justice S.G. Dige also extended bail to Amol Kale and Sharad Kalaskar. Order of the judgement is awaited.
While Tawade and Kale are expected to walk free, Kalaskar will remain in custody as he is already serving a sentence for his role in the 2013 murder of activist Narendra Dabholkar.
His appeal against that conviction is pending before the High Court. Justice Dige said the detailed reasoning for granting bail would be issued later and declined a request from Pansare’s family to stay the order.
Pansare, a prominent leftist thinker and author of ‘Who Was Shivaji?’, was shot on February 16, 2015, while returning from a morning walk with his wife in Kolhapur’s Samrat Nagar area. Two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle opened fire, critically injuring him. He succumbed to his injuries four days later, sparking outrage across Maharashtra and beyond.
The investigation into his killing has been marked by delays and multiple transfers. Initially handled by the local Rajarampuri police, the case was later taken over by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and eventually transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2022 after the High Court expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of progress.
