The Karnataka High Court on Friday rejected a plea to defer the rape trial against suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna..Justice Vishwajith Shetty dismissed Revanna's mother's plea seeking deferment of trial so as to enable Revanna to appoint a new lawyer to represent him before the trial court.The Court orally observed today that any directive to defer the trial may demoralise the trial court. "If orders are passed asking the trial court to adjourn it, it will demoralise (the trial court)," he said. The judge, therefore, indicated that he will not entertain the plea filed by Prajwal Revanna's mother, Bhavani Revanna, on his behalf."I will pass orders, I will not entertain," the judge said. .Prajwal Revanna is the main accused in four cases registered after over 2,900 clips depicting the sexual assault of several women were circulated online, including on social media.The Bengaluru trial court dealing with the case framed various criminal charges against Revanna on April 3, including for rape, voyeurism, criminal intimidation and the unauthorised circulation of private images..Notably, Bhavani Revanna herself is also facing allegations of having kidnapped and intimidated a woman who is said to have been raped repeatedly by Prajwal Revanna. .Prajwal Revanna's previous lawyer, advocate Arun G, had on April 23 relinquished his vakalath and withdrawn from representing Revanna before the trial court.This was shortly after a plea to transfer the trial to another court was rejected.It is alleged that Prajwal Revanna was later asked by the trial court on April 28 if he wished to have a lawyer from the District Legal Services Authority (DSLA) represent him instead. Revanna replied that his family was making arrangements to hire another lawyer. However, on April 29, the trial court eventually appointed Chief Legal Defence Counsel Jayashree RS as an amicus curiae to represent Revanna. It is alleged that this new appointment was made without Prajwal Revanna's consent and after giving him less than 24 hours to hire a new lawyer. The matter was also posted for day-to-day hearings starting from May 2 (today). .Revanna's mother, Bhavani Revanna, therefore, moved a plea before the High Court seeking some time for Revanna to engage another lawyer of his choice to represent him before the trial court. She added that even the amicus appointed on April 29 by the trial court to represent Prajwal Revanna was given only two days to prepare for the case which involves multiple witnesses and voluminous case files. .Notably, the petition also alleged that prior to his withdrawal from the case, Prajwal Revanna's lawyer had met him in jail and informed him that courtroom submissions were not being accurately recorded in the trial court's orders. Bhavani Revanna claimed that upon learning about this, she also requested the court to give copies of the courtroom proceedings. Her plea claimed that Prajwal Revanna's applications for the same had not yielded any result and were not being processed. She added that instead of considering her request, the trial court mocked her and continued with the hearing. Her applications for certified copies of the court proceedings were rejected as well. She, therefore, also urged the High Court to order the trial court to release certified copies of the court proceedings. .However, the Court today was not inclined to entertain the plea. The petition was filed through advocate Mayur D Bhanu of Legal Care Inc. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ravivarma Kumar appeared for the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that investigated the case.Senior Advocate Vikram Huilgol appeared for Bhavani Revanna.
