The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting several women, to seek bail first from a sessions court before approaching the high court. Revanna, grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, has been in custody since his arrest in May last year.
A bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar did not accept the contention of Revanna’s counsel Prabhuling Navadgi that the high court could hear the bail matter at this stage. The bench stated that Revanna would have to first move the trial court, which would decide the issue within 10 days.
In October 2024, the high court rejected another set of bail pleas filed by Revanna, observing that the acts of the former Hassan MP would prima facie have a “chilling effect on the spine of society”.
Among the contentions previously advanced by Revanna’s counsel was that there had been excessive delays in the ongoing trial, arguing that this was a change since the last rejected bail plea.
These contentions were opposed by Ravikumar Varma, the special public prosecutor, who argued that the delay in the trial was actually because of Revanna’s actions. He had also previously argued that if there was indeed a change in circumstances, the matter of bail should have been raised before the session court.
Among other submissions, he stated during proceedings on July 2, referring to the previous court proceedings, “There is no delay, and it is he (Revanna) who has dragged on the matter, procrastinating the committal of the proceedings before the learned magistrate. It is he at every stage who has sought adjournments….He cannot be permitted to take undue advantage of his own conduct.”
The high court stated in its order that all legal contentions would remain open to Revanna after approaching the sessions court.