JD(S) leader and Lok Sabha member Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment, himself made one of the earliest public references to the sex tapes that have snowballed into a raging controversy. In June 2023, Prajwal Revanna moved a Bengaluru civil court against 86 media outlets and three private persons seeking a gag order to prevent the dissemination of what he termed as "fake news" and "morphed photographs/videos."
Prajwal was granted an injunction from the court on June 2, 2023, on the grounds that “there is a threat of broadcasting, publishing and circulating such fake news, morphed photographs/video against the plaintiff by the defendants”.
Read: Prajwal Revanna sex scandal: JD(S) set to suspend Deve Gowda's grandson today
The videos, reportedly numbering over 2,900 and allegedly recorded by Prajwal himself, were circulated via hundreds of pen drives in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on April 26.
Local BJP leader G Deveraje Gowda, who had lost to Prajwal’s father H D Revanna from Holenarasipura in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, referred to the ‘obscene pictures’ and the gag order at a press conference in January 2024.
Devaraje, who claimed to have obtained access to the videos through Prajwal Revanna's former driver, said he did not release the videos out of respect for the dignity and privacy of the women involved, reported The Indian Express.
{{/usCountry}}Devaraje, who claimed to have obtained access to the videos through Prajwal Revanna's former driver, said he did not release the videos out of respect for the dignity and privacy of the women involved, reported The Indian Express.
{{/usCountry}}Read: Priyanka attacks Modi, Shah over their silence on Revanna issue
Incidentally, Deveraje Gowda had written to the state BJP leadership warning about allegations against Prajwal Revanna months before his name was announced as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat.
“If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a brahmastra (weapon) and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally,” Gowda said in a letter to state party chief B Y Vijayendra.
Thousands of videos were circulated among the voters through pen drives which purportedly had sex tapes of Prajwal Revanna. Most of the tapes were allegedly recorded by Prajwal on his mobile phone, which was then transferred to his laptop. A preliminary investigation showed that most of the videos were shot from a mobile phone in a storeroom at their residence in Bengaluru and Hassan after 2019.
On Wednesday, Poornachandra Tejaswi MG, election agent of the Janata Dal (S) and Bharatiya Janata Party, lodged an FIR alleging the videos were fake. In the complaint, he accused individuals including Naveen Gowda of circulating manipulated videos and images intended to defame Prajwal Revanna. It is unclear who Naveen Gowda is as the FIR only mentions the name and not who they are.