Karnataka High Court refuses to suspend Prajwal Revanna's jail sentence in rape case

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday rejected a plea by former JD(S) legislator Prajwal Revanna to suspend his jail sentence in a rape case until his appeal against his trial court conviction in the said case is decided by the High Court [Prajwal Revanna v. State Special Investigation Team]..A Division Bench of Justices KS Mudagal and Venkatesh Naik passed the order.The Bench is yet to decide on an appeal filed by Revanna challenging the trial court's decision to convict and sentence him to life imprisonment in the rape case, in which he is accused of repeatedly raping a domestic worker.Revanna had urged the Court to suspend his sentence or grant him interim bail while this appeal is pending. The Court rejected this application today. "Weighing the material on record, gravity of offence, and effect on other (rape complainants if Revanna is released from jail), this court is of considered opinion that this is not fit case for granting suspension of sentence or bail. Application is rejected," the Court said. .The Court today noted that the threshold for the grant of interim bail before an accused is convicted and the threshold for suspending a jail sentence after conviction are different. The presumption of the accused being innocent is not available at the post-conviction stage, the Court said. The Court proceeded to observe that Revanna is also accused in other criminal cases involving similar allegations of rape or sexual abuse, and that his earlier bail applications in those cases were rejected, considering the relatively weaker socio-economic background of the rape survivors. The Court further noted arguments that if Revanna's jail sentence is suspended, the evidence in those pending cases could be tampered with and witnesses in those cases could be influenced.It acknowledged Revanna's argument that it may take a lot of time for the trials in the pending rape cases to conclude, and that he should not be made to continue to remain in jail until such trials are over. However, the Bench noted that Revanna is at liberty to seek an early hearing of these matters if needed. .In 2024, three rape cases and one sexual harassment case were filed against Prajwal Revanna. These cases were filed after over 2,900 videos depicting the sexual assault of several women were circulated online, including on social media.The rape case being considered by the High Court was filed by a maid who was formerly employed by the Revanna family. In August this year, a trial court found Prajwal Revanna guilty of the rape allegations levelled by her against him.The trials in the remaining criminal cases against Revanna are yet to conclude. Revanna was arrested in May 2024 and has been in jail since..Arguments in the appeal filed before the High Court against the trial court's conviction in the lead rape case are yet to conclude. During a hearing of the matter on December 1, Revanna's counsel, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra argued that the rape cases filed against his client were part of a political vendetta. .Senior Counsel, Prof. Ravivarma Kumar represented the State.