The Karnataka High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the bail plea of former Janata Dal (S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexual assault and rape.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna, a single-judge bench, heard arguments on Revanna’s bail application in one case and two anticipatory bail pleas in connection with additional complaints. The court also instructed the legal teams to refrain from naming the victims, urging them to focus on case specifics.
Senior Advocate Prabhuling K. Navadgi, representing Revanna, emphasized that the complainant had initially accused Revanna’s father but did not make allegations of sexual misconduct against Prajwal. He noted that the woman had worked for Revanna’s family for four years and highlighted the significant delay—about four years—in filing the complaint. Navadgi questioned why the complaint had not been lodged sooner and pointed out that the woman only brought up the rape allegations after her husband questioned her about a video.
Navadgi further argued that forensic evidence did not link Revanna to the alleged video, and there were inconsistencies in the statements of the victim and her daughter. He denied the presence of any incriminating content on Revanna’s phone and explained that the device in question belonged to Revanna’s driver. He also stated that the forensic report was inconclusive. Regarding charges under Section 66E of the IT Act, Navadgi maintained that these allegations were not directly tied to Revanna and cited Supreme Court rulings on delayed complaints to support his argument.
In contrast, Special Public Prosecutor Ravivarma Kumar, representing the state, contended that Revanna had threatened the victim, which explained the delayed complaint. Kumar stressed that the victim’s statement detailed the threats and argued that forensic evidence supported the allegations. He added that Revanna had failed to surrender his phone, which allegedly contained crucial information, and had fled the country to evade legal action.
After hearing both sides, the court reserved its judgment on the bail pleas. Revanna, who recently lost his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary seat, faces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, which surfaced after explicit videos reportedly involving him were circulated in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The JD(S) suspended him from the party following the accusations.
The first case against Revanna, filed at Holenarasipura Town police station in Hassan on April 28, involves allegations of sexual harassment by a 47-year-old former domestic worker. His father, local MLA H.D. Revanna, is listed as the primary accused. A second case, filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on May 1, involves accusations of repeated rape by a 44-year-old former Hassan Zilla Panchayat member. The third case relates to the alleged rape of a woman in her 60s from Mysuru, with her son initially filing a kidnapping case.
A fourth case, registered at the cyber crime police station of CID in Bengaluru on June 12, accuses Prajwal Revanna of sexual harassment, stalking, criminal intimidation, and violation of privacy under the IT Act. In this instance, the complainant claimed she was sexually harassed during a video call.
