Supreme Court adjourns state govt's plea against pre-arrest bail of Bhavani Revanna

The court said it would not consider the merits of the case and asked Srinivasan to file an affidavit (Photo: Shutterstock)

3 minutes reading Last updated: September 20, 2024 | 12:52 IST

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned for two weeks a Karnataka government petition seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Bhavani Revanna, mother of suspended JD(S) leader and rape accused Prajwal Revanna, in a kidnapping case involving one of the victims who was allegedly sexually assaulted by her son.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan asked advocate Balaji Srinivasan, appearing for Revanna, to file an affidavit giving details of the progress of the case.

Srinivasan said a chargesheet has been filed in the case, other accused have been granted bail and Bhavani Revanna has been cooperating in the investigation.

The court said it would not consider the merits of the case and asked Srinivasan to file an affidavit.

The court then adjourned the case for two weeks.

On July 10, the Supreme Court refused to cancel the anticipatory bail granted to Bhavani Revanna in the case and sought her response to the appeal filed by the Karnataka government challenging the Karnataka High Court order.

On June 18, the High Court had granted anticipatory bail to Bhavani Revanna while pointing out that she had already answered 85 questions during the investigation, making it unfair to claim that she was not cooperating with the SIT probing the sexual abuse cases against her son.

The SIT had sought his custody in connection with the abduction of a domestic worker from KR Nagar in Mysuru district after she failed to appear for questioning.

The High Court, while allowing Bhavani Revanna’s anticipatory bail plea, asked that media trials be avoided and stressed the importance of not making unnecessary arrests of women, noting their central role in families.

The High Court also pointed out that the allegations of non-cooperation were not convincing since Bhavani Revanna had already given detailed answers during her interrogation. The Court rejected the SIT’s argument that she had given misleading answers.

On June 7, the court granted interim bail to Bhavani Revanna with conditions prohibiting him from entering Mysuru and Hassan districts, and this bail was extended on June 14.

The court allowed the SIT to take him to Hassan and Mysuru districts for investigation.

Bhavani Revanna is accused of trying to prevent the victim, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by her son, from filing a complaint.

Prajwal Revanna is currently in SIT custody for allegedly sexually abusing several women and filming the assaults.

The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were circulated in Hassan ahead of the April 26 Lok Sabha elections.

SIT officials arrested Prajwal Revanna soon after he landed at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport from Germany on May 31. He had left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan went to polls.

A “blue notice” requesting information on his location had already been issued by INTERPOL, following a request from the SIT via the Central Bureau of Investigation.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: September 20, 2024 | 12:52 IST