The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a petition filed by the Karnataka government challenging a High Court order that cleared Janata Dal (Secular) leader and MLA H D Revanna of charges of outraging a woman’s modesty.
A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran issued a notice to Revanna, directing his legal counsel to file a counter affidavit to the state government’s plea.
During the hearing, the bench questioned the Karnataka government’s timing, asking why it failed to challenge the High Court’s decision immediately after the charges under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were dropped, and urged the state to maintain legal discipline. The bench also noted that the complainant, a former domestic worker, has leveled distinct sets of allegations against Revanna and his son, Prajwal Revanna.
High Court Decision And Subsequent Discharge
The dispute stems from a November 19 ruling last year, in which the Karnataka High Court quashed the charge of outraging a woman’s modesty (Section 354 of the IPC) against the JD(S) leader. While the High Court dismissed the modesty charge, it upheld a lesser charge of sexual harassment under Section 354A of the IPC.
However, because the maximum penalty for a Section 354A offense is three years of imprisonment, the High Court ruled that the complaint was prima facie barred by the limitation period under Section 468 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The High Court then referred the matter back to a trial court to determine if the filing delay could be legally condoned. Following this order, on December 29 last year, an additional chief judicial magistrate in Hassan district’s Holenarasipura town discharged Revanna from the 2024 sexual harassment case.
Discrepancies And Statutory Time Limits
The original complaint was filed by Revanna’s former domestic help. Revanna had initially petitioned the High Court to quash the First Information Report (FIR), arguing that the complaint was submitted past the three-year statutory limitation period applicable to offenses carrying a maximum three-year prison sentence.
The prosecution countered that the petition had become redundant because the police had already submitted a chargesheet and the trial court had taken official cognisance of the case.
In its ruling, the High Court pointed out discrepancies between the complainant’s initial statement and the subsequent police report, particularly regarding the allegations against Revanna’s son, who is listed as the primary accused. The High Court determined that charges against H D Revanna must be framed strictly on the complainant’s original account, which supported only the Section 354A sexual harassment charge rather than the more severe Section 354 charge.
Broader Family Legal Scandals
H D Revanna is the son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, the older brother of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and the father of jailed former Member of Parliament Prajwal Revanna.
The sexual harassment allegations against the MLA arose after multiple rape and sexual abuse cases were registered against his son, Prajwal Revanna. The complainant who accused H D Revanna of sexual harassment is also one of the complainants in the cases against his son.
The cases against the younger Revanna first came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving him were reportedly circulated in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, 2024. Prajwal Revanna has since been convicted in one of the four cases filed against him.
