Bengaluru: Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna has approached the Karnataka High Court appealing against his conviction in a rape case. A special court that convicted Revanna last month had sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life and imposed fines, in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases against him.

The Special Court for MPs/MLAs, Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat, who sentenced the convicted politician under various sections of the IPC on August 2, had imposed a total fine of Rs 11.50 lakh on him, and had said Rs 11.25 lakh from this fine amount will be paid to the victim.

Revanna, who was arrested in May last year after returning from Germany, is contesting the verdict on several grounds, including what he claims are contradictions in the survivor's testimony and inconsistencies in the evidence produced by the prosecution.

The case in which Prajwal has been sentenced pertains to the one involving 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family's Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district's Holenarasipura. She was allegedly raped twice -- at Hassan farm house and Bengaluru residence-- in 2021 and the act was recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.

The trial court had relied on multiple pieces of evidence, including video footage, DNA analysis of hair strands, and biological traces found on the victim's clothing, to convict him.

In his petition, Revanna has argued that the complainant's statement does not align with her police complaint. Only last week, the High Court dismissed another petition by Revanna in which he sought to transfer two other cases from the judge currently hearing them, alleging bias. The court has not yet scheduled a hearing for his latest appeal.

Four separate cases have been registered against Revanna, who is facing charges of rape and sexual harassment, and the SIT was tasked with probing cases. The cases came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls on April 26, 2024.