By The Hindu Bureau

Copyright thehindu

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday adjourned till October 28 the hearing on an appeal filed by former Member of Parliament Prajwal Revanna questioning the order of a special court, which convicted him on the charges of raping a domestic worker multiple times on a premises belonging to his family at Holenarasipura and Bengaluru during January 2021 to January 2022.

A Division Bench comprising Justice K.S. Mudagal and Justice Venkatesh Naik T, before whom the appeal came up for hearing, also asked the prosecution whether a special public prosecutor had been appointed to represent it as was done for the trial of the case before the special court of sessions for criminal cases against present and former MPs and MLAs in Karnataka.

The special court on August 2 had sentenced Prajwal to imprisonment for remainder of his natural life under Section 376(2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code (repeated rape on the same woman), the maximum punishment prescribed under this Section. He was also sentenced to imprisonment for life under Section 376(2)(k) (being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such a woman), apart from other charges under the IPC and the Information Technology Act, 2000, for video recording his sexual acts with the victim and storing it in a mobile phone.

This is one of the four rape cases lodged against him, and the three other cases are pending for trial before the special court.