Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna has approached the
Karnataka High Court appealing against his conviction in a rape case.
A special court that convicted Revanna last month
had sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life and imposed
fines, in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases against him.
The Special Court for MPs/MLAs, Judge Santosh
Gajanan Bhat, who sentenced the convicted politician under various sections of
the IPC on August 2, had imposed a total fine of Rs 11.50 lakh on him, and had
said Rs 11.25 lakh from this fine amount will be paid to the victim.
Revanna, who was arrested in May last year after
returning from Germany, is contesting the verdict on several grounds, including
what he claims are contradictions in the survivor's testimony and
inconsistencies in the evidence produced by the prosecution.
The case in which Prajwal has been sentenced
pertains to the one involving 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at
the family's Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district's Holenarasipura. She was
allegedly raped twice -- at Hassan farm house and Bengaluru residence-- in 2021
and the act was recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.
The trial court had relied on multiple pieces of
evidence, including video footage, DNA analysis of hair strands, and biological
traces found on the victim's clothing, to convict him.
In his petition, Revanna has argued that the
complainant's statement does not align with her police complaint. He has also
questioned the credibility of certain evidence, pointing out, for example, that
stains on a mattress examined in May 2024 had allegedly gone uncleaned since
the time of the assault, said to have occurred between January 2021 and January
2022.
His plea further cites the delay in filing the
complaint and the fact that the survivor had later attended a housewarming
event at the same farmhouse in 2023.
Revanna was booked under sections 376(2)(k) (being
in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such
woman), 376 (2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment),
354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 354C
(voyeurism), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of
the IPC, and Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act, by the Special
Investigation Team (SIT) which probed the case.
The special court has sentenced Revanna to
imprisonment for life and Rs 5 lakhs fine, under section 376(2)(k), and
imprisonment for life which shall mean remainder of natural life along with Rs
5 lakh fine under section 376(2)(n).
He has been also sentenced for rigorous imprisonment
for 3 years and Rs 25,000 fine under section 354A, rigorous imprisonment for 7
years and Rs 50,000 fine under section 354B, rigorous imprisonment for 3 years
and Rs 25,000 fine under section 354C.
Rigorous imprisonment has also been sentenced for
Revanna for 2 years and fine of Rs10,000 under section 506, imprisonment of 3
years and fine of Rs 25,000 under section 201, and imprisonment of 3 years and
fine of Rs 25,000 under section 66 E of IT Act.
Only last week, the High Court dismissed another
petition by Revanna in which he sought to transfer two other cases from the
judge currently hearing them, alleging bias.
The court has not yet scheduled a hearing for his
latest appeal.
Four separate cases have been registered against
Revanna, who is facing charges of rape and sexual harassment, and the SIT was
tasked with probing cases.
The cases came to light after pen-drives containing
explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in
Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls on April 26, 2024.