JD(S) MLA HD Revanna granted bail in kidnap case by Bengaluru court

A Special Court for Elected Representatives on Monday granted bail to JDS MLA H D Revanna in connection with a kidnap case The 66yearold former Minister was arrested by the Special Investigation Team SIT in an alleged case of abduction of a woman linked to the allegations of sexual abuse of women by his son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna on May 4The special court judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat heard the matter and granted conditional bail to RevannaHis threeday police custody ended on May 8 following which he was produced in the XVII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court which remanded him to seven days judicial custody till May 14The case was registered following a complaint by the womans son who alleged that his mother was sexually abused by Revannas son PrajwalThe woman was allegedly abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal police sources have saidThe SIT has also secured the custody of Revannas confidant Sathish Babanna in connection with the caseThe SIT arrested Babanna on May 3 and subsequently rescued the woman allegedly from a farmhouse in Mysurus Hunsur taluk on May 4 hours before the arrest of Revanna from his father and former PM H D Deve Gowdas residence in Bengalurus PadmanabhanagarWhile Revanna engaged senior counsel C V Nagesh for his bail plea Special Public Prosecutor Jaina Kothari and Additional Public Prosecutor Ashok Naik argued on behalf of SITNagesh claimed that there is a political conspiracy behind Revannas arrest and the victim has recently said in a video that she has not been abducted by Revanna or his familyKothari and Naik countered it by saying SIT recorded statements both under CrPC sections 161 examination of witnesses by police and 164 statements recorded by Magistrate and the victim has given a statement against RevannaThe SIT advocates also argued that the bail application was moved when the accused was already in custody and hence the matter is not maintainableHowever the Judge differed with this argument and said You please argue on the merit of the caseNagesh further added that the victims son lodged the complaint saying his mother had not come home and he also mentioned that she had gone with the known individual on a motorbike How is it interpreted as kidnap It is not a case of kidnapNaik said that the victim and her family have been threatened by the accused and the victim needs police protectionAfter a brief adjournment Nagesh argued that the sections invoked by SIT are invalid and cited a few previous court verdicts on kidnapping casesNagesh said SIT has not furnished a single evidence against my client to establish that he abducted the victim There is no demand for money or valuables or any sort of force against the victim 364A Kidnapping for ransom cannot be invoked in this caseHe further added that cases against Prajwal Revanna have got nothing to do with Revanna and he requested to grant his client Revanna immediate bail reliefHe also targeted the SIT counsels and asked Why two special public prosecutors appearing for bail objectionHowever Kothari clarified that they arent repeating the argument and one is adding to the other argumentLater Kothari requested the court to make further submission to counter Nageshs argument But Nagesh objected to this saying If SIT gets another round of argument I should also be given an opportunity to counter itKothari pointed out that there is some misinformation in Nageshs argument Victim is not a relative of H D Revanna as stated by CV Nagesh and 161 statements before the Investigation Officer have been recorded on May 5th and not laterTo this Judge Bhat said 161 and 164 statements are furnished before the court in both remand applications SIT sought time to furnish written documents related to this but was turned down by the Judge and he reserved the order at 5 pm on Monday and granted bail to RevannaThe 33yearold JDS MP Prajwal Revanna who is grandson of JDS patriarch Deve Gowda is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJPJDS engaged in a slugfestPrajwal Revanna reportedly left the country on April 27 a day after the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka was held and an Interpol Blue Corner Notice has been issued against him in an effort to bring him backHe was BJPJDS alliances joint candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment which went to polls in the first phaseWhile the Congress government has formed a SIT to probe the cases the BJP and JDS NDA partners have demanded that it be handed over to the CBI and action against those behind the circulation of explicit videosThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever