The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday refused to interfere in the bail order granted to the accused in the case of journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder.

The court noted that the accused, Mohan Nayak, has cooperated with the authorities and added in its order:

Under the circumstances, we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned orders passed by the High Court. However, it is directed that the trial court shall expeditiously conduct the trial and all the parties shall cooperate with the trial court in concluding the trial.

The accused was granted bail by the Karnataka State High Court in December 2023.

Gauri Lankesh, a well-known Indian journalist and critic of right-wing extremism, was murdered on September 5, 2017, outside her Bengaluru, Karnataka, home. Lankesh was known for her outspoken opposition to communism, and her death sparked widespread outrage and protests across India. The investigation revealed that her murder was premeditated and linked to a radical extremist network. Several people were arrested, and the case raised concerns about journalist safety and India’s growing intolerance of dissent.

India ranks 159 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. According to RSF, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with an average of three to four journalists killed annually. Journalists critical of the government in India face online harassment, threats, physical attacks, criminal prosecutions and arbitrary arrests. Violence against them comes from police, political activists, criminal groups and corrupt officials.

Recently, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Delhi police to cease their investigation into three journalists from The Caravan, an Indian journalism platform. CPJ urged the police to focus on investigating those responsible for the attacks against these journalists during the 2020 Delhi riot.