Supreme Court upholds anticipatory bail to Prajwal Revanna’s mother in kidnapping case

The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the anticipatory bail order granted to Bhavani Revanna, the mother of former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the anticipatory bail order granted to Bhavani Revanna, the mother of former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna and dismissed the appeal of the state government which accused her of kidnapping one of the survivors in the sexual abuse allegations against her son.

The Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal of the state which accused her of kidnapping one of the survivors in the sexual abuse allegations against her son (HT Photo)

A bench headed by justice Surya Kant noted the fact that the accused is a woman aged over 55 years, charge sheet had been filed in the case and the other co-accused in the case were granted bail. The bench, also comprising justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, “No case is made out to interfere with the order granting anticipatory bail”, while dismissing the Karnataka government’s plea challenging the pre-arrest bail order of June 7.

Additional advocate general Aman Panwar pointed out that the state has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations of sexual abuse against Prajwal Revanna, who is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. The SIT has found Bhavani Revanna to be directly involved in the crime, he said.

The petitioner was represented by advocate Balaji Srinivasan who pointed out that the HC while granting bail had ensured that the investigation is completed in a timely manner without any interference.

The state lawyer pointed out that the petitioner belongs to a politically influential family and allowing her to remain out on bail will prejudice fair trial. The bench said, “If investigation is prejudiced or derailed, we are there.”