Interim relief to mother of Prajwal Revanna to continue till verdict on pre-arrest bail: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court today reserved its judgment on an anticipatory bail plea filed by the Bhavani Revanna in a kidnapping case connected to the sexual abuse case filed against her son and suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna. .Justice Krishna S Dixit added that the interim anticipatory bail earlier granted to Bhavani Revanna will continue until a final verdict is pronounced. The Court, however, warned Bhavani Revanna not to go to places in and around Mysore and Hassan districts as part of her bail conditions. "Anticipatory bail is continued till and subject to the final decision that will be produced before long ... Petitioner (Bhavani Revanna) shall not hover in any place in Mysore and Hassan districts. This condition shall not come in the way of police taking the petitioner to such places for the purpose of investigation only," the Court said, after a marathon hearing that lasted till after 7 PM on Friday. .Bhavani Revanna is accused of being involved in kidnapping a woman who was sexually assaulted by Prajwal Revanna. This was allegedly done to prevent the woman from filing a complaint. Prajwal Revanna is presently under arrest in connection with allegations that he sexually assaulted several women and captured visuals of the assault.Last month, visuals of the assault, captured in over 2,900 videos, surfaced after pen drives of the same were left in several public places in Karnataka. Amid the political storm that followed, Prajwal Revanna was reported to have fled the country and gone to Germany.He was arrested upon his return back to India on May 31. Recently, a trial court in Bengaluru extended a Special Investigation Team's (SIT) custody of Prajwal Revanna till June 18.Meanwhile, both of Prajwal Revanna's parents face allegations that they kidnapped a woman who was assaulted by Prajwal Revanna..Appearing for the SIT probing the case, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Prof Ravivarma Kumar today vehemently urged the Court not to extend Bhavani Revanna's interim bail for a moment longer, as she was the "kingpin" behind the victim's abduction. "What is the duty of the Court when faced with a case of this magnitude? Hundreds of women were raped! And this woman is hand in glove! Is this woman a mother? She should have questioned him (Prajwal Revanna)! How did she allow this, videos, photographs ... How did she allow this in her house?" SPP Kumar contended. .He added that Bhavani Revanna and her family held a lot of power and that she was likely to tamper with evidence and influence witnesses if she remained on anticipatory bail. The alleged kidnapping itself was an attempt to tamper with evidence in the sexual abuse case against her son, the SPP argued. Further, Bhavani Revanna has violated a bail condition to cooperate with the probe, as she had given false answers to questions posed by the investigating officers, he said. SPP Kumar added that the SIT needed custody of Bhavani Revanna to confront her with certain technical records, to recover her mobile phone and find out the owners of certain SIM cards. "If we recover the phone of Bhavani Revanna, the truth will come out. Maybe she is innocent, but her phone will reveal how innocent she is," SPP Kumar said. .These arguments were opposed by Bhavani Revanna's counsel, Advocate CV Nagesh who pointed out that custodial interrogation is not necessary to confront her to investigate aspects concerning digital records, mobile phones or SIMs. He maintained that Bhavani Revanna has been appearing before the investigating officers as directed in her interim bail order. He argued that the anticipatory bail application was filed because the offence alleged (Section 364A of the Indian Penal Code which deals with kidnapping for ransom, etc.) is a non-bailable and cognisable one. "Can they say I (Bhavani Revanna) am absconding?" he added. .After hearing both sides at length, the Court proceeded to extend Bhavani Revanna's interim anticipatory bail until a final judgment is passed on the issue. "In matters like this, ordinarily the Court may have dictated judgment in open court, but that course is not taken since the matter requires deeper (examination) in light of submissions," the Court added in its order today. .[Read Order].[Read live coverage of case].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.