Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: HC grants anticipatory bail to Bhavani Revanna in abduction case, and more

In a relief to Bhavani Revanna, mother of rape-accused former MP Prajwal Revanna, the Karnataka High Court granted regular anticipatory bail in the case of alleged abduction of one of the victims of her son’s sexual assaults. In addition to earlier conditions, the court permitted the SIT to take her to Hassan and Mysuru districts for their investigation, while continuing all the conditions imposed on her while granting interim anticipatory bail. 

Justice Krishna S. Dixit said he had rejected SIT’s contention that once police request for custody of an accused, the courts have no power to question the reason for custody. It was found that she had answered majority of the questions posed by the SIT, and it cannot be expected that an accused answers the questions as required by the police.  Meanwhile, Prajwal Revanna was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by the Special Court of Magistrate for criminal cases against former and present MPs and MLAs.

In a relief to the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC), Karnataka HC on June 18 stayed the State government’s decision of refusing to grant licence for the BTC to conduct horse racing as per the fixtures for June-August racing season. Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar passed the interim order on a petition filed by the BTC, questioning the government’s June 6 order rejecting the licence application.

The Court also permitted the BTC to conduct on-course and off-course racing and betting activities as per the schedule of racing submitted to the government along with its application seeking licence, and by adhering to the provisions of the law and the conditions imposed on it by the government in its earlier licence granted for the races conducted in March this year.

Karnataka has successfully employed persons with disabilities in various government jobs keeping with the reservation percentage specified in the Right to Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act. The Human Resource Management System (HRMS) report of 2022 showed that the government employed 249 PwDs in Group A jobs, 688 in Group B, 10,038 in Group C, and 927 in Group D jobs.

However, working conditions at these offices are not optimal, with one of the major problems being the lack of washrooms for PwDs. The other problem is that of accessibility, even in the Vidhana Soudha and the General Post Office (GPO) in Bengaluru. 

It has been over a year now since H. K. Patil took charge as the Tourism Minister of Karnataka. In this time, he has finished two tours of the State identifying different opportunities and weaknesses for the development of tourism.