The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant bail to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa in the high-profile Renukaswamy murder case, while directing Karnataka authorities to fast-track the trial and complete the examination of key witnesses within a year. The ruling deals a major setback to the actor, who will continue to remain in custody as proceedings continue in one of Karnataka’s most closely watched criminal cases. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi expressed concern over the slow pace of the trial, noting that despite charges being framed in November last year, only 10 of the prosecution’s 272 witnesses had been examined in the past seven months. The court, however, left the door open for Darshan to seek bail again if the trial fails to make substantial progress over the next year. “We will watch for some time but we will see to it that your trial proceeds expeditiously,” the bench observed during the hearing. What is the case?…