SC upholds anticipatory bail to Bhavani Revanna in kidnapping case

Supreme court noted that the principal accused in the case had been arrested and put under custodial interrogation

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to set aside the anticipatory bail given to Bhavani Revanna, the mother of suspended JD(S) leader and rape accused Prajwal Revanna, in a kidnapping case while dismissing the Karnataka government's plea.

In a setback to the Karnataka government, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan took into account that the chargesheet had been filed in the case and refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court order.

During the hearing, the state government counsel, claimed the mother was directly involved in allegedly procuring women for her son.

The apex court noted that the principal accused in the case had been arrested and put under custodial interrogation.

After the Karnataka government sought the cancellation of the anticipatory bail to Bhavani, the top court on July 10, refused to set it aside and sought her response.

The high court had on June 18 granted anticipatory bail to Bhavani emphasising she had already answered 85 questions during the investigation, making it unfair to claim she was not cooperating with the special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged sexual abuse cases against her son.

The SIT had sought her custody in connection with the purported kidnapping of a house-help in K R Nagar in Mysuru district after she failed to appear for questioning.

The high court while granting the pre-arrest bail said media trials should be avoided and highlighted the state's allegations of non-cooperation were unconvincing since Bhavani had already provided extensive responses during her interrogation.

The court dismissed the SIT's argument that she had given misleading answers.

On June 7, with the reprieve the high court prevented Bhavani from entering Mysuru and Hassan districts while extending the embargo on June 14.

The court had permitted the SIT to take her to Hassan and Mysuru districts for investigation.

Bhavani is accused of trying to prevent the survivor, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by her son, from filing a complaint.

Prajwal is currently in judicial custody at Parappana Agrahara Jail for allegedly sexually abusing several women and video-recording the alleged crime.

The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen-drives containing his alleged videos were reportedly circulated in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on April 26.

SIT officials arrested Prajwal soon after he landed at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport from Germany on May 31. He had left for Germany on April 27, a day after polls in Hassan.

A "blue corner notice" seeking information about his whereabouts was issued by the Interpol, following a request by the SIT via the Central Bureau of Investigation.