The trial into the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh is set to resume under a new judge, the eighth to preside over the case in nine years. The latest change follows the elevation of K.S. Bharath Kumar, the seventh judge to handle the trial, to the Karnataka High Court, The Indian Express reported.

Ravindra Hegde, a district judge and former registrar of the Karnataka High Court, has taken charge of the case after assuming office as principal city civil and sessions judge in Bengaluru on October 5. He held his first hearing on Thursday (October 8), when fresh dates were to be fixed for the resumption of the trial, which has made little progress in recent months.

Proceedings have remained sluggish, with only seven hearings held over the past four months. Applications filed by the 17 accused, all of whom are currently out on bail, have also contributed to the delays.

“The case has not progressed much in recent months, and very few witnesses have been examined since June this year,” a prosecution source involved with the trial told The Indian Express.

The frequent changes in judges have marked the long-running proceedings. Before Bharath Kumar, the case was handled by S. Amarannavar, Anil Katti, C M Joshi, Ramakrishna Huddar and B Muralidhar Pai. All five were subsequently elevated to the Karnataka High Court.

Lankesh, 55, was the editor of the weekly Lankesh Patrike magazine and a prominent critic of Hindutva politics. She was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence late on September 5, 2017.

The alleged attackers were identified as two motorcycle-borne assailants, Parashuram Waghmore, 26, a former member of the Sri Rama Sena in Bijapur, and Ganesh Miskin, 27, a Hindutva activist from Hubbali.

Nearly a decade after the killing, the latest judicial transition has added another chapter to a trial marked by repeated changes in presiding judges and prolonged delays. The resumption of hearings under Hegde will determine how the proceedings move forward in the case.