SC issues notice on K'taka’s plea to cancel Bhavani Revanna’s bail in kidnap case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice on a plea moved by the Karnataka SIT seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Bhavani Revanna, mother of Prajwal Revanna, the suspended JD(S) MP and prime accused in the sex video case.

After much persuasion, a Bench presided over by Justice Surya Kant agreed to examine the Special Leave Petition and sought a response in the matter from Bhavani Revanna, who is the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, questioned senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the SIT, about the role attributed to Prajwal Revanna’s mother.

In response, senior advocate Sibal said that the victim in her statement recorded under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) described the role of Bhavani Revanna in abducting her.

Remarking that the plea pertains to liberty of a woman, whose guilt is to be determined during trial, the apex court cautioned that the matter need not be politicised.

On June 18, the Karnataka High Court had allowed Bhavani Revanna’s anticipatory bail petition in a kidnap case linked to the sex video scandal.

As a condition for grant of anticipatory bail, a Bench headed by Justice Krishna S Dixit of the High Court restricted her entry into Mysuru and Hassan districts.

The victim in the kidnap case hails from Mysuru District and Hassan is the native district of Bhavani Revanna.

In its order, the Karnataka High Court said that Bhavani Revanna had answered 85 questions asked by the police and, hence, the argument of her non-cooperation with the probe can't be accepted.

Bhavani Revanna is presently appearing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the kidnap case of a maid, who allegedly suffered sexual assault at the hands of Prajwal Revanna and her husband JD(S) MLA HD Revanna.