Almost two-thirds of the expenditure incurred by Special Investigation Teams (SITs) constituted by the Karnataka government since 2023 has been spent on legal battles in sexual assault cases against former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, according to official data tabled before the legislature on Monday, December 15.
According to details tabled by Home Minister G Parameshwara in a written reply to an unstarred question by BJP MLA Munirathna during the winter session, the total expenditure on investigations and legal proceedings by various SITs stood at Rs 4.54 crore. Of this, Rs 2.96 crore or 65.19% was spent on legal proceedings related to the Prajwal Revanna cases in the trial court, the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court.
The government said Rs 33.91 lakh was spent on investigating the sexual assault cases against Prajwal Revanna, taking the total investigation and legal expenditure in these cases to Rs 3.29 crore.
Of the legal expenses incurred in the Prajwal Revanna cases, Rs 2.41 crore was paid as fees to Special Public Prosecutor Ravivarma Kumar. An additional Rs 28.37 lakh was paid to Special Public Prosecutor BN Jagadish for representing the state in the High Court, while senior advocate Kapil Sibal was paid Rs 15.5 lakh to appear for the state in the Supreme Court. Litigation expenses in the trial court amounted to Rs 12.7 lakh.
The SIT probing the Bitcoin scam spent Rs 39.98 lakh on investigation over a period of three years, apart from Rs 29.75 lakh towards legal fees in the trial court and the High Court.
An SIT was also constituted to investigate a criminal complaint and rape allegations against MLA Munirathna, who raised the question in the House. The government said Rs 23.52 lakh was spent on the investigation in this case over two years, in addition to Rs 21.08 lakh paid as fees to the special public prosecutor for representing the state in the trial court.
Meanwhile, the total investigation and legal expenditure incurred by the SIT probing the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam stood at Rs 8.83 lakh.
The government said details of expenditure incurred by three other SITs, formed to investigate the police sub-inspector recruitment scam, the voter ID theft case and the Dharmasthala case, could not be disclosed as the investigations are still underway.