SC slams Karnataka govt for politicising probe into Prajwal Revanna’s sexual assault cases

Prajwal, a suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader, faces allegations of sexually assaulting several women.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a warning to the Karnataka government against politicising the criminal investigations into the sexual assault cases implicating former parliamentarian Prajwal Revanna.

Prajwal Revanna, a suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader, faces allegations of sexually assaulting several women. (REUTERS)

“Let’s not politicise the matter,” a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said while hearing an appeal filed by the Karnataka special investigation team (SIT) against the anticipatory bail granted to Prajwal’s mother, Bhavani Revanna.

Prajwal, a suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader, faces allegations of sexually assaulting several women. Bhavani was booked in a case over alleged abduction of one of the sexual assault victims.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the SIT, described the relief granted to Bhavani as “most unfortunate”. However, the bench emphasised the need to separate political motives from the legal reasoning provided by the high court, which cited Bhavani’s age and the lack of direct evidence against her.

“Mr Sibal, leave apart the political reasons. See the reasons given by the high court. The accused is a woman, aged 55 years. There are serious allegations against her son of indulging in atrocious things. He ran away and was eventually caught. In a case with such allegations, what will be the role of the mother in abetting the crime committed by her son?” the court asked.

The bench pointed out that Bhavani was not directly named in the complaint, questioning the extent of her involvement in the crimes committed by her son, who had fled to Germany and was eventually caught.

Sibal responded by referring to statements indicating that the victim was abducted under the direction of Bhavani and her family. However, the bench pointed out that there was no direct evidence implicating Bhavani, asking Sibal to provide concrete allegations from the Section 164 statement of a complainant before a magistrate. “The best evidence with you is the Section 164 statement. Please point out from the 164 statement where the allegation against her is”.

Insisting that Bhavani orchestrated the victim’s captivity, Sibal cited the victim’s fear for her life and argued that in the normal course of human conduct, a mother would be aware of her son’s actions.

But the bench remained unconvinced, emphasising the importance of concrete evidence over assumptions. “You are dealing with a serious criminal complaint. How do you use the word and implicate ‘family’ in a criminal offence? We are concerned with the liberty of a woman. Show us what’s there against her...Let’s not politicise a matter. There’s nothing against her,” it told Sibal.

The court eventually issued a notice to the SIT’s appeal, seeking a reply from Bhavani, even as it highlighted the necessity of addressing the legal aspects without political bias.

Prajwal, who fled to Germany, was arrested on May 31 after returning to India. He faces three separate cases of sexual abuse, including allegations from a former house help, a former member of the Hassan zilla panchayat and a woman in her 60s. Thousands of explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal surfaced in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, leading to his suspension from the JD(S) party. The 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the recent polls.

Prajwal’s father HD Revanna, who is a legislator in the Karnataka state assembly, is also an accused in the police complaint lodged by a former employee of the family. He has denied the allegations, calling them a political conspiracy.

The Karnataka high court granted anticipatory bail to Bhavani on June 18 despite allegations from the Karnataka Police labelling her as the “mastermind” in the abduction case.