The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau’s (CEIB) preventive detention of Kannada actor Harshavardhini Ranya Rao and co-accused Sahil Jain under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) in an alleged gold smuggling case.
A bench of justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh dismissed a petition filed by family members of the two accused, seeking their release. The petitioners had challenged a Karnataka high court order passed in December last year, which held that there was nothing illegal about the CEIB’s detention orders in the case.
The apex court held that there was sufficient material before the authorities to justify their detention and a reasonable basis to conclude that they could engage in similar activities if released. The bench said it found no violation of Article 22 of the Constitution, which provides safeguards for citizens against detention and arrest in certain cases.
The bench rejected the petitioners’ arguments that Rao and Jain had been denied effective representation or access to documents relied upon by the authorities in the case. It held that there existed no absolute right to legal representation before an advisory board under preventive detention laws, and that “substantial compliance” with procedural requirements, such as showing electronic evidence like CCTV footage rather than physically handing over devices, as done in the present case, was sufficient.
“Having perused the grounds of detention, we find that adequate reasons have been recorded therein. The materials are also to the effect that there were prior occurrences of disposal of foreign marked-gold bars in India, and a live and proximate link qua the present incident also stands established insofar as the detenu - Shri Sahil Sarkariya Jain is concerned. Further, all the documents relied upon have been duly furnished to the detenus,” the Supreme Court said.
{{/usCountry}}“Having perused the grounds of detention, we find that adequate reasons have been recorded therein. The materials are also to the effect that there were prior occurrences of disposal of foreign marked-gold bars in India, and a live and proximate link qua the present incident also stands established insofar as the detenu - Shri Sahil Sarkariya Jain is concerned. Further, all the documents relied upon have been duly furnished to the detenus,” the Supreme Court said.
{{/usCountry}}In December 2025, a division bench of the Karnataka high court had dismissed a petition filed by Rao’s mother and Jain’s kin challenging the April 22, 2025, order of the CEIB for keeping the duo under preventive detention after the directorate of revenue intelligence disclosed that the actress had been indulging in gold smuggling. She was caught red-handed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru while smuggling around 14 kg of gold bars from Dubai on March 3, 2025.
Jain is accused of having facilitated the disposal of consignments of foreign-marked gold bars on four different occasions between November 2024 and February 2025 along with Rao.