Karnataka HC orders release of Pralhad Joshi's brother, nephew in cheating case
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the release of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s brother and nephew, who were recently arrested in a cheating case for allegedly promising an election ticket in exchange for Rs 2.5 crore.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, presiding over a single-judge bench, issued an interim order staying all proceedings against the accused. Although they were set to remain in police custody until tomorrow, the court ordered their immediate release. The court stated, “The petitioners are said to be in police custody, and custody is till tomorrow. In light of the aforesaid interim order, [they shall] be released forthwith in a manner known to law.”
The arrests followed a complaint from Sunitha Chavan, wife of former JD(S) MLA Devanand Chavan, who alleged that the accused had promised her husband a BJP ticket for the Bijapur Lok Sabha constituency, in exchange for Rs 2.5 crore. According to the complaint, the accused had claimed they could secure the ticket, leveraging the office of the Union Minister. It was further alleged that Rs 25 lakh had already changed hands before the election announcement.
In its interim observations, the court noted that the complaint was filed six months after the alleged incident. The counsel for the petitioners reportedly assured the court that they would return the amount, suggesting it was a financial dispute between the parties. Additionally, the court addressed allegations under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, observing that the alleged abuses were confined to a private setting and did not qualify as offences under s. 3(1)(r) and (s) of the Act.
The petitioners initially sought the quashing of the case registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including charges of wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and various offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Maharashtra Cong chief Nana Patole scrapes through in Sakoli, wins by 208 votes
Mumbai, Nov 23: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole survived a scare from his nearest BJP rival in the Sakoli assembly constituency but managed to win the tight contest by a narrow margin of 208 votes.
Patole, the incumbent Congress MLA from Sakoli, polled 96,795 votes, while his challenger from BJP, Avinash Brahmankar, came tantalisingly close to bagging 96,587 votes.
Independent nominee Somadatta Karanjekar was a distant third, bagging 18,309 votes.
While Patole managed to save the face with the thin margin, the Congress unit led by him and the Maha Vikas Aghadi were routed by the BJP-led Mahayuti in the one-sided contest.
