Know your limits: HC warns JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna during hearing in court

PTI, Oct 20, 2022, 9:21 AM IST

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday warned JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna to behave properly in the court during a hearing in a case related to his campaign for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

Revanna, who is the lone Lok Sabha member from Karnataka representing his party, is facing challenge to his election as Hassan MP in two election petitions the court is hearing.

On Wednesday, Revanna was in the witness box answering questions posed by the advocate for the petitioner, Keshava Reddy. His extended answers and his attempt to casually chat with the advocate after the questioning did not go down well with the court.

The single judge bench of Justice K Natarajan, who is hearing the case, had to warn him.

“Know your limits. You are in a court. Do not speak like you do outside,” the court cautioned him. The MP was, then, allowed to sit on a chair inside the witness box.

The petition has been filed by A Manju, the defeated candidate in the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which Prajwal Revanna won. The petition alleged that Revanna has not declared all the expenses made by him in the polls before the Election Commission.

One of the questions posed to him on Wednesday was about the participation of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda in his campaign and his arrival in a helicopter for the same.

Revanna replied that since Deve Gowda was a star campaigner of the party, the election expense incurred by him is not added to the candidate’s expenditure.

Meanwhile, Revanna has filed an affidavit in court seeking permission to travel abroad for treating his back injury sustained in an accident last year. He has stated that he would be treated in London between October 23 and 26 and would return on November 1.

The hearing of the petition has been adjourned to November 4 for cross examination.