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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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
