Actor Darshan Toogudeepa, arrested in connection of the murder of a fan, has decided to undergo surgery at a private hospital in Mysuru.
| Photo Credit: File photo

In a relief to Darshan, the High Court of Karnataka has granted interim bail to the actor for six weeks on medical grounds to enable him to undergo surgery for his back pain based on the medical reports given by a neurosurgeon of Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari.

Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order on an application filed by the actor for grant of bail on medical grounds to undergo surgery for his back pain during the pendency of consideration of his plea for grant of regular bail in the Renukaswamy murder case.

The court said that he can take treatment at a hospital of his choice and submit a report to the court on the course of treatment being availed.

It was argued before the court on behalf of the actor that there is an imminent threat of more damage to the health of Darshan if the actor does not undergo surgery while referring to the medical reports given by the doctor at the Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Ballari, where the actor underwent a scanning recently.

However, the prosecution had claimed that there are differences in the medical report given by the same doctor at VIMS. In the earlier report, there is a reference to certain issues in the hip of the actor based on the scanning report, but in the latest one, it has been stated that there is no such issue.

Also, the prosecution had stated that the latest medical report was silent on whether there is any urgency to undergo surgery as the report mainly suggests conservative treatment of physiotherapy and surgery to avoid any medical complications in future. Besides, the medical report does not contain vital information like the nature of the surgery required, how many days Darshan has to be in-patient, and how many days he has to take follow-up treatment, the prosecution had told the court.

Without ascertaining these details from an independent medical board of doctors, either at Victoria Hospital or Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru, the interim bail application cannot be considered, the Special Public Prosecutor P. Prasanna Kumar had argued on October 29 while requesting the court to refer Darshan to a medical board to examine the requirement of surgery.

However, Senior Advocate C.V. Nagesh, who appeared for the actor, had argued that there is no need to refer the actor to a medical board of experts as the professor and head of the Department of Neurosurgery at VIMS has given the medical reports, and the actor has decided to undergo surgery at a private hospital in Mysuru.