Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna has approached the Karnataka High Court challenging his conviction in a rape case in which a special court for legislators sentenced him to life imprisonment last month.
Prajwal Revanna, the former Hassan MP, was convicted of sexually assaulting a domestic worker at his family farmhouse, with the court relying on video evidence and DNA analysis. He was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment under Section 376(2)(k) and fined Rs 11.50 lakh.
The court had pronounced him guilty on August 1. This is one of the four cases filed against Prajwal for rape and molestation. Prajwal has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru since his arrest in May 2024.
Prajwal has now moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the conviction, citing alleged inconsistencies in the evidence.
In his petition, Prajwal Revanna has questioned the trial court’s findings, citing alleged inconsistencies in the evidence. He has argued that the survivor’s testimony does not fully align with her police complaint and raised doubts about the forensic evidence, including how stains on a mattress were detected during examination in May 2024 despite the alleged assault taking place between January 2021 and January 2022.
The petition further points to the delay in filing the complaint and notes that the survivor attended a housewarming ceremony at the farmhouse in 2023.
Last week, the High Court dismissed a plea filed by him seeking transfer of two other sexual assault cases away from the trial judge on grounds of alleged bias.
The High Court has not yet fixed a date for hearing Prajwal Revanna’s fresh petition.