JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna granted conditional bail in sexual harassment case

Bengaluru, May 20 The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (ACMM) court on Monday granted conditional bail to JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna in a sexual harassment case.

Revanna, the son of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, was recently released from prison in a kidnap case.

Magistrate J. Preeth directed Revanna to furnish a bond for Rs 5 lakh along with a surety.

Claiming that a rape charge has been included in the sexual harassment case against Revanna, the prosecution argued in the court that he should be remanded to judicial custody.

On Friday, special public prosecutor Jayna Kothari, appearing for the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, had submitted that IPC Section 376 (rape) has been added to the sexual harassment case registered at the Holenarasipur police station.

“The victim claimed that she had left her house, as she was unable to bear the harassment at the hands of H.D. Revanna and his son Prajwal Revanna. The house allotted to her under the Ashraya scheme was taken back, but a complaint to the District Commissioner in this regard made no difference,” Kothari argued.

"Both H.D. Revanna and Prajwal Revanna committed sexual assault, and the court should not see the case against Revanna as separate from that of Prajwal Revanna. Under no circumstances should he be granted bail. Since a rape charge has been added to the case, the trial should be conducted in the session’s court," she had claimed.

C.V. Nagesh, the counsel for H.D. Revanna, had claimed that the complaint in this regard was not lodged by the complainant in the first place.

"It is a false case created intentionally. The victim does not know what sexual assault is," he argued.

"The rape charge against Revanna has been added only now. The alleged act was not committed on the day when the complaint was lodged. It did not occur a week ago or even a year ago. The complaint states that the alleged act was committed years ago.

"The victim did not register the complaint at the Holenarasipur police station. Instead, the sub-inspector from Holenarasipur police station went to Bengaluru and got the complaint filed as desired by the victim," Nagesh said.

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