Court rejects JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna's bail plea in sodomy case
Bengaluru (PTI) A special court here rejected the bail plea of JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna in a sodomy case on Tuesday.
The court had earlier reserved its order.
The Special Public Prosecutor had argued against granting bail to Suraj Revanna, who is the son of Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna and grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
ALSO READ: Court rejects JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna's bail plea in sodomy case
The SPP argued that the accused was powerful. There was strong evidence against the accused and granting him bail may result in the destruction of the material evidence in this case.
However, the defence lawyer said these allegations were politically motivated.
Suraj's younger brother Prajwal Revanna, a former JD(S) MP, has also been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and making explicit videos.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC directs Centre to set up special POCSO courts on priority basis
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to set up on "top priority basis" dedicated POCSO courts to exclusively deal with cases of sexual offences against children.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and P B Varale said due to the inadequacy of the number of exclusive courts for the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases, the timelines mandated under the law for completion of trials weren't adhered to.
"It is therefore expected that the union of India and the state governments shall take appropriate steps to sensitise the officials associated with the investigation of POCSO cases, and also to create dedicated courts to try POCSO cases on top priority basis," the bench said.
The top court further directed filing of chargesheets within the mandatory period stipulated in law besides completing trials within the prescribed time frame.
The apex court noted while majority states, with the funding from the Centre, complied with the directions for setting up exclusive courts for POCSO cases, in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra, and a few other states, more POCSO courts were required given the pendency of such cases.
The top court had previously directed senior advocate and amicus curiae V Giri and senior advocate Uttara Babbar to submit state-wise details on the status of POCSO courts.
The apex court was hearing a petition underlining the "alarming rise in the number of reported child rape incidents" in a suo motu case.
The top court asked states to set up two designated courts in districts where the number of pending cases of child abuse under the POCSO Act was more than 300.
It made it clear that its July 2019 direction to set up one court in each district with more than 100 FIRs under POCSO Act meant a designated court would only deal with such cases under the law.
