The Karnataka Legislative Assembly, on Saturday, May 2, disqualified Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni following his conviction by a Bengaluru sessions court in the 2016 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogeshgouda Goudar. Kulkarni, who represented the Dharwad constituency, is currently serving a life sentence.
In an official notification, the Assembly said Kulkarni stood disqualified from April 15, 2026, the date of his conviction by the 81st Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru.
The notification stated that Kulkarni was disqualified under Article 191(1)(e) (Disqualifications for membership) of the Constitution and Section 8 (mandates that any person convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for at least two years (excluding offenses listed in Section 8(1) or 8(2)) shall be disqualified from contesting elections from the date of conviction, continuing for six years after their release) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. His disqualification will continue for six years after his release unless the conviction is stayed by a competent court.
With his removal, one more seat in the 224-member House has fallen vacant. Two other vacancies created due to the death of sitting MLAs went to bye-polls on April 9, with results scheduled for May 4.
Kulkarni and 15 others were convicted on April 15 by Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder. On April 17, the court sentenced all convicts to life imprisonment.
The case pertains to the killing of Yogeshgouda Goudar, a BJP Zilla Panchayat member, who was hacked to death in his gym in Dharwad’s Saptapur on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister in the state government at the time.
The investigation was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2019, which filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2020 naming Kulkarni as the “main conspirator,” alleging he saw Goudar as a growing political rival and hired contract killers.
CBI arrested Kulkarni in 2020 and the Supreme Court granted him bail in August 2021 with conditions, including a prohibition on entering Dharwad district. His bail was cancelled in June 2025 over allegations of witness tampering. A fresh bail plea was rejected in January 2026, but the Supreme Court granted bail on February 27 after noting that all witnesses had been examined.