Bengaluru court grants bail to Prakash Raj in multiple voter ID case

A Bengaluru court on July 10 granted bail to actor and former independent Lok Sabha candidate Prakash Raj in a case alleging that he was enrolled as a voter in multiple Assembly constituencies across different States and concealed those details in an affidavit filed along with his nomination papers for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyoti Shantappa Kale granted bail to Prakash Raj on the condition that he furnish a cash security of ₹4,000 and appear before the court on every hearing date.

The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against the actor after summons could not be served on him.

On Friday, Prakash Raj appeared personally before the court. His counsel submitted that Raj had not received any warrant from the court and that he has appeared before the court on learning about the trial proceedings through media reports.

"Prakash Raj has not received the warrant till now. He has appeared in court voluntarily based on information published in the media. Earlier, he had a voter ID card in Tamil Nadu. Now it has been surrendered," Nagarjuna submitted.

Speaking to Bar & Bench, the complainant's advocate, Dharmapal, said that since the alleged offences are non-cognisable, the actor appeared before the court and, after hearing the submissions, the court granted him bail.

The proceedings arise from a private complaint filed by Bengaluru resident K Dileep Kumar.

On August 1, 2025, the magistrate took cognisance of offences punishable under Sections 31 and 125A of the Representation of the People Act after finding sufficient material to proceed further against Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Bengaluru Central constituency as an independent candidate.

According to the complaint, he had declared in his election affidavit that his name was enrolled in the electoral roll of the Shantinagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru.

However, the complainant alleges that at the same time, the actor's name also appeared in three other electoral rolls—two entries in the Velachery Assembly constituency in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and one entry in the Serilingampally Assembly constituency in Telangana.

The complaint contends that Sections 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Act prohibit a person from being registered in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency. It further notes that Section 31 penalises making a false declaration in connection with electoral rolls, while Section 125A prescribes the punishment for filing a false affidavit.

To support the complaint, the complainant examined himself as a witness (CW-1) and produced seven documents, including copies of Prakash Raj's nomination affidavit, an additional affidavit dated March 21, 2019, and voter information records allegedly showing Raj's enrolment in the Velachery and Serilingampally constituencies.

After examining the complaint, oral evidence and the documents placed on record, the magistrate observed that the material prima facie indicated that the accused's name appeared in three electoral rolls in 2019, while his nomination affidavit disclosed only his enrolment in Shantinagar.

The court found that the records disclosed a prima facie case for offences punishable under Sections 31 and 125A of the Representation of the People Act. The matter, therefore, proceeded to trial.