Walks out of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: A Special Court for Elected Representatives in Bengaluru granted conditional bail to Holenarasipura JD(S) MLA H.D. Revanna yesterday. He is accused of kidnapping a woman from K.R. Nagar, allegedly sexually assaulted by his son Prajwal Revanna, a JD(S) MP from Hassan.

The bail orders reached the authorities of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru this morning and the MLA was released after a six-day stay.

Yesterday, Special Judge K. Gajanana Bhat directed that two sureties with a Rs. 5 lakh bond be provided for bail and instructed Revanna to cooperate with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) during the probe.

The bail was granted on the condition that he “shall not threaten or tamper with the prosecution witnesses or the complainant and victim.” He has also been barred from entering the “permanent place of residence of the victim directly or indirectly until  further orders.”

The MLA was arrested by the SIT, constituted by the Siddaramaiah Government, to investigate allegations of sexual assault on multiple women by Prajwal. These allegations surfaced after videos of sexual assault, purportedly involving the Hassan MP, circulated in the public domain ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on Apr. 26.

Revanna was arrested by the SIT on May 4, following the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in the kidnapping case by the Special Court. The probe team located the victim on May 5.

Advocate C.V. Nagesh represents Revanna

In the morning session, the Court commenced hearing the arguments presented by Additional Special Public Prosecutor Jayna Kothari and Revanna’s Counsel C.V. Nagesh. Nagesh persisted in his argument that the Police had falsely applied IPC sections related to kidnapping, while Kothari defended the Police’s decision, asserting that it was indeed a  kidnapping case.

During the proceedings, Nagesh highlighted a video wherein the woman, purportedly the victim, claimed she had not been kidnapped. “I had gone to my relative’s house, and my son, mistaking the situation, filed the case,” she stated. However, the Judge noted that the Court, at this stage, could not ascertain the authenticity of the video.

After hearing their submissions, the Judge adjourned the Court until 2.45 pm, with arguments resuming around 3 pm. By 4 pm, the Judge announced that the orders would be delivered after 5 pm.

The Courtroom was packed with Advocates, political party workers, notably from JD(S), and a few members of the SIT. Around 6.30 pm, the Judge entered the Courtroom and declared the grant of bail.

Loopholes in the FIR

Addressing the media outside the Court, Nagesh’s associate emphasised that the Court took into consideration the loopholes in the FIR, which was registered by K.R. Nagar Police and accused Revanna and his associate of kidnapping the rape survivor, along with the further investigation conducted by the SIT.

The Advocate also highlighted flaws in the SIT’s approach, noting that the SIT did not mention in their remand application that they had taken statements from the victim woman.

“It was only during the argument that the SIT claimed to have taken the victim’s statement. Moreover, the SIT has not presented clear evidence to establish Revanna’s involvement in the alleged kidnapping,” he stated.

The Court pointed out that while statements given by the victim implicated Revanna’s son Prajwal for sexual assault, they did not implicate Revanna in the kidnapping of the victim.