The Karnataka High Court on Thursday said that suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna, who was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, could only be allowed to examine digital evidence concerning the victim who made the complaint against him and not other women.
The counsel appearing for Revanna argued that the images or digital evidence sought to be examined by him were not necessarily obscene.
The single-judge Bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna rejected the argument on the grounds that just because the case concerned Prajwal Revanna, the law could not be bent for him.
The JDS leader, who was accused in four cases of rape, sexual assault and criminal intimidation, had approached the High Court last week seeking copies of all digital evidence collected against him by the State Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The High Court, while noting that Revanna was entitled to receive copies of evidence pertaining to the case filed under Section 376 regarding the alleged rape of a domestic help, said that it would not permit anything that might reveal the identities of victims other than the complainant in the case before the trial court.
The single-judge Bench observed that when other women were not giving any statements against Revanna, he should not invade their privacy.
Additional Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) BN Jagadeesha argued that Revanna’s petition was only a tactic to delay the trial in the case.
The Court directed that Revanna be allowed to examine the digital evidence concerning the victim in the present case in line with Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now replaced by similar provisions in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita).
He was allowed to inspect the statements of the victim, photographs etc, only in accordance with the verdict in P Gopalakrishnan vs the State of Kerala.
The single-judge Bench further permitted the State to withhold from Revanna whatever was required, in accordance with the law.
Additional SPP Jagadeesha had earlier apprised the High Court that the prosecution had already provided copies of the images and videos that pertained to the four cases against Revanna.
However, he has now asked for copies of over 15,000 images and 2,000 videos recovered from a Samsung phone that allegedly belonged to his driver, the Court was told.
Most of these images and videos contained details of other victims in the case. Providing such copies would not only take time, but also reveal the identity of these women before the trial court, added the Additional SPP.
On August 24, 2024, the Special Investigating Team (SIT), investigating all four cases against Revanna, filed a 2,144-page-long charge sheet, the first in the four cases, before the special court which hears cases relating to legislators.