Bengaluru’s Karnataka High Court has shot down former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna’s bid to move his high-profile rape case out of the Special Court for MLAs and MPs. Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, argued that the presiding judge showed bias against him in this ongoing sex scandal trial.
Justice M.I. Arun led the bench that rejected the plea on Wednesday. Revanna filed it under Section 408 of the CrPC to shift the case to another court, claiming his lawyer’s objections about unfair proceedings went ignored. He insisted he wasn’t undermining the judge but feared real bias, pointing to the trial court’s sharp rebukes of his defense team and misuse of evidence from other cases.
The state pushed back hard, saying no documents proved any prejudice from the judge. They suggested Revanna’s worries spiked after his conviction in one case, and the trial court was just pushing to keep things moving daily despite his repeated delay requests.
Justice Arun agreed, noting that while some of the trial court’s comments might sound tough, they didn’t signal bias. Instead, they reflected frustration with Revanna’s tactics to drag out the rape trial. “The Special Court for MLAs and MPs exists exactly for cases like this against elected officials,” the bench ruled, emphasizing its dedicated role.
This decision comes after a bombshell verdict in August. On August 2, the same Bengaluru special court hit Revanna with life imprisonment and a Rs 10 lakh fine for raping a 47-year-old woman repeatedly. Judge Santosh Gajanana Bhat convicted him under IPC Section 376(2)(n) for the assaults and another Rs 5 lakh fine under Section 376(2)(k) for abusing his position of power over the victim. The court ordered Rs 7 lakh of the fines to go directly to the survivor.
Revanna also faced convictions for voyeurism under IPC Sections 354(b) and 354(c), plus privacy violations under IT Act Section 66(e). During sentencing, he stood with joined hands, looking emotional as the life term landed. He broke down in his final statement, questioning why the allegations only emerged during elections when he was an MP. “No complaints back then—why now? This feels politically motivated by the police,” he said, adding he hadn’t seen his parents in six months.
Revanna, a mechanical engineering graduate, called himself a top student who rose fast in politics. He accepted the court’s call without blaming the media. Three more similar rape and sexual assault cases still hang over him in this sprawling Prajwal Revanna sex scandal.
The ruling keeps the focus on the special court’s fast-track approach for public figures like Revanna, amid ongoing debates about bias claims in high-stakes trials.
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