Prajwal Revanna: Karnataka HC rejects bail plea in three cases

The Karnataka High Court on Monday rejected three bail petitions filed by Prajwal Revanna, a former MP and grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who is the prime accused in multiple cases of sexual assault which he reportedly recorded on video.

A single-judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order, denying the bail in connection with two cases of rape and a case of video recording a victim of sexual harassment. The court is yet to deliver its order on another rape case. Revanna is facing four cases in connection with the alleged sexual assaults.

Senior counsel Prabhuling Navadgi appeared for Revanna, while senior counsel Prof. Ravi Varma Kumar argued for the prosecution and submitted before the court that bail not be granted in the case.

One of the victims, a resident of Hassan, had filed a rape case against Revanna at Bengaluru Cyber police station. The court has rejected the bail plea in the matter. Another case is related to the alleged sexual assault of a domestic staff member at a farmhouse in Holenarasipura, the disturbing video of which went viral on social media during the Lok Sabha election this year.

The alleged video of the elderly domestic help pleading with Revanna to spare her — owing to her age and the fact that she had served his father and other elders of the family — as she was being sexually assaulted had caused immense public outrage. The victim was reportedly kidnapped after the video surfaced on social media, and the police had arrested Prajwal Revanna's father, Janata Dal-Secular MLA H.D. Revanna, who is out on conditional bail.

The police had also issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal's mother Bhavani Revanna in the case. However, she managed to obtain bail. The bail order was challenged by the special investigation team (SIT) in the Supreme Court, but the apex court had upheld the bail order by Karnataka High Court.

Revanna, who has been lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison for four months, also stands accused of forcing a woman from Hassan to strip when she approached him for help to get her son admitted to a reputable school, and recording the act on video. Both cases were registered at the Cyber police station in Bengaluru.

The high court has also stated that it will pass an order in connection with the alleged rape of a former zilla parishad member in Revanna's office in two days.