The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to a man accused of helping conceal evidence in an alleged murder-for-insurance scheme by tampering with a forensic report.
Justice Venkatesh Naik T passed the order on September 30 in the case of Kumar @ Dali v. State of Karnataka, observing that the precise role attributed to the accused would have to be established during the trial.
The accused, Kumar, was arraigned as accused number 10 in the case concerning the alleged murder of a former Army officer. According to the prosecution’s case, the victim’s wife allegedly conspired with a man described as her paramour to kill her husband and secure the proceeds of an insurance policy.
Kumar was accused of assisting the principal accused by allegedly issuing a manipulated forensic report after receiving a bribe. The report was said to have been prepared in a manner that concealed evidence potentially linking the victim’s death to poisoning.
The Court noted that the allegation against Kumar was essentially confined to his purported role in altering or assisting with the alteration of the report issued by a government scientific agency. Whether he actually participated in such tampering, the Court said, was a matter to be determined through evidence during the trial.
The allegations in the underlying murder case paint a more elaborate sequence of events.
The victim’s wife is alleged to have exploited her husband’s drinking habits and engineered a road accident in the hope that his insurance policy could ultimately be claimed. She allegedly got him intoxicated and permitted him to drive, resulting in an accident. Although he survived the crash with relatively minor injuries, he was taken to hospital.
Investigators later alleged that the wife’s purported paramour administered sleeping pills and poisonous substances through the victim’s saline treatment, ultimately causing his death.
A post-mortem examination followed. The prosecution alleges that the victim’s wife subsequently paid a Regional Forensic Science Laboratory official to produce a report stating that the deceased had been sober before his death and that no poison was detected in his body.
The case reportedly took a different turn when the alleged paramour approached the police and confessed to his own involvement. He allegedly disclosed the participation of several other individuals, including the victim’s wife. Ten people were eventually named as accused.
Kumar subsequently approached the High Court seeking bail in connection with the allegations concerning the forensic evidence.
While granting relief, the Court took note of his permanent residence and his willingness to comply with conditions imposed by the Court. Bail was granted subject to stringent conditions.
The order does not determine Kumar’s guilt or innocence, with the Court making it clear that the prosecution’s allegations concerning the forensic report remain matters for trial.