Prabha @ Prabhavathi Vs State of Karnataka — Karnataka HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Prabha @ Prabhavathi Vs State of Karnataka — Karnataka HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Criminal appeal allowed; impugned order dated 03.03.2026 in Crl.Misc.No.321/2026 set aside; accused/appellants to be released on bail in the event of arrest for the SC/ST (POA) Act 2015 and BNS 2023 offences, subject to conditions: personal bond of Rs.1,00,000/- each with one local surety for likesum each; regular bail to be obtained from jurisdictional court within ten days of certified copy; appearance before jurisdictional police within ten days and thereafter once every fifteen days (10.00 a.m.-6.00 p.m.) till charge sheet or requisition by IO; no threatening/tampering with prosecution witnesses; no similar offences; not to leave trial court jurisdiction without permission until disposal.

Issue for consideration

Whether a prima facie case under Sections 3(1)(r)(s), 3(1)(za) and 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST (POA) Act 2015 is made out against the appellants (accused Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 in Crime No. 53/2026), who allegedly asked the defacto complainant and his sister to leave a temple while naming their caste as 'Hosakulavadi'. +1 more

Court's answer

No prima facie case as against the accused/appellants appeared to have been made out; the Court found plausible and acceptable the submission that the appellants could not have uttered the specific caste name 'Hosakulavadi' in the absence of any material indicating they were aware of the caste of the defacto complainant.

Ratio / Principle

There is nothing on record to indicate that the accused/appellants knew the specific caste of the defacto complainant, known as 'Hosakulavadi'; consistent with the principle in Shajan Skaria relied upon by this Court, the allegations cannot be said to have been made on the ground that the complainant is a member of a Scheduled Caste.

Key takeaways

In the circumstances, this Court deemed it appropriate to grant the relief as sought for, i.e., setting aside the impugned order of 03.03.2026 and directing that the accused/appellants be released on bail in the event of their arrest, subject to conditions.ratio¶78

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Criminal Appeal — anticipatory bail under SC/ST (POA) Act — Section 18A bar — prima facie case test. Four accused (Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6) in Crime No.53/2026 (Turuvekere P.S.), registered for offences under Sections 3(1)(r)(s), 3(1)(za), 3(2)(va) of SC/ST (POA) Act 2015 and Sections 352, 351(2), 190 of BNS 2023 arising from an allegation that on 19.02.2026 they, along with the temple priest, asked the defacto complainant and his sister to leave a temple while naming their caste as 'Hosakulavadi' (episode videographed), filed this appeal under S.14(A)(2) of the SC/ST (POA) Act, 2015 against rejection of their bail application in Crl.Misc.No.321/2026 (III Addl. Dist. & Sessions Judge, Tumakuru, order dt. 03.03.2026) based on the Section 18A bar. Holding (M.G.S. Kamal, J.): the complaint nowhere indicated any acquaintance or transaction between the appellants and the defacto complainant whereby they could have known his specific caste name 'Hosakulavadi'; it was highly improbable that devotees merely present at the temple could have used that specific caste name, and there was nothing on record showing they knew his caste — hence no prima facie case was made out against them. Relying on Shajan Skaria v. State of Kerala (2024 SCC OnLine SC 2249) (mere knowledge that the victim is a Scheduled Caste/Tribe member does not attract S.3(1)(r); the offence must be committed on the ground of caste membership) and Kiran v. Rajkumar Jivraj Jain ((2025) 9 SCR 283) (S.18 bar on anticipatory bail is absolute but yields where, on the face of the FIR, no prima facie offence under S.3 is made out, without travelling into evidentiary realm or mini-trial), the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned order and directed release on bail in the event of arrest, on a personal bond of Rs.1,00,000/- each with one local surety, with conditions including obtaining regular bail within ten days, periodic reporting to the jurisdictional police till charge sheet, no tampering with witnesses, no similar offences, and no departure from trial-court jurisdiction without permission.