The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna’s plea seeking transfer of his pending trials in three other-rape cases in another trial court. Notably, the ousted JDS leader has been convicted in one of the four rape cases registered against him. He had approached the apex court requesting that the remaining cases be moved to a court other than the one that convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment for raping his house help.
A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the judge who convicted him in the first case will not be influenced by the verdict while dealing with the rest of the cases.
"There is no reason to doubt that trial courts’ presiding officer is swayed by the fact that he found the petitioner guilty in another case and obviously the decision in pending cases on will be confined on the basis of the evidence in cases pending trial. No inference shall be drawn against the petitioner (Revanna) based on the previous trial," the bench observed.
Revanna’s plea seeking suspension of life sentence junked by HC
Earlier, Karnataka High Court junked Prajwal Revanna’s plea seeking suspension of life sentence in the rape case he has been convicted.
A division bench comprising Justice KS Mudagal and Justice Venkatesh Naik T said that, given the seriousness of the charges, the matter did not merit the grant of bail. The court pointed out that several cases were already pending against Revanna, creating a potential risk of interference with witnesses. It further observed that the accused’s considerable influence had previously resulted in bail being denied during earlier proceedings, and that the victim’s delay in reporting the assault was linked to this influence.
Revanna convicted for raping domestic worker
Prajwal Revanna was convicted in one of four separate cases involving sexual abuse and rape. The case involves a 48-year-old domestic worker who was employed at the family’s farmhouse in Holenarasipur, Hassan district. She was allegedly raped twice—once at the farmhouse and another time at the family’s Bengaluru residence in 2021. The assaults were reportedly recorded on the accused’s mobile phone.
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Karnataka HC junks Prajwal Revanna's plea seeking suspension of life sentence in rape case
