Supreme Court upholds anticipatory bail to Prajwal Revanna’s mother in kidnapping case

Bhavani Revanna is accused of trying to prevent the survivor from filing a complaint. (File)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the anticipatory bail granted to Bhavani Revanna, the mother of suspended JD(S) leader and rape accused Prajwal Revanna, in a kidnapping case while dismissing the Karnataka government’s plea.

In a setback to the Karnataka government, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan took note of the charge sheet being filed in the case and refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s order.

During the hearing, the lawyer for the state government claimed that the mother was directly involved in the alleged recruitment of women for her son.

The apex court noted that the main accused in the case had been arrested and remanded in custody.

After the Karnataka government sought cancellation of Bhavani’s anticipatory bail, the high court on July 10 refused to set her aside and sought her response.

On June 18, the high court had granted anticipatory bail to Bhavani stressing that he had already answered 85 questions during the investigation, so it was unfair to claim that he was not cooperating with the Special Investigation Team (SIT ) who was investigating alleged cases of sexual abuse against his son.

The SIT had sought her custody in connection with the alleged abduction of a domestic helper in KR Nagar in Mysuru district after she failed to turn up for questioning.

The high court, while granting anticipatory bail, said media trials should be avoided and stressed that the state’s allegations of non-cooperation were unconvincing as Bhavani had already provided extensive answers during his interrogation.

The court rejected the SIT’s argument that she had given misleading answers.

On June 7, on leave, the high court barred Bhavani from entering Mysuru and Hassan districts while extending the embargo on June 14.

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

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

Prajwal is currently in judicial custody in Parappana Agrahara Jail for allegedly sexually abusing several women and recording the alleged crime on video.

The sexual abuse cases came to light after pen drives containing his alleged videos were circulated in Hassan ahead of the April 26 Lok Sabha polls.

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

A “blue corner notice” seeking information on his whereabouts was issued by Interpol, following a request by the SIT through the Central Bureau of Investigation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)