A sessions court here Monday granted anticipatory bail to Karthik Gowda, son of Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, in a rape and cheating case filed against him by Kannada actor Maithreyi.
Justice Mudi Gowdar of the eighth additional chief metropolitan magistrate's court said Karthik would have to appear before police on the 15th and 30th of every month and furnish a Rs.2 lakh personal bond with sureties of like amount from two guarantors.
Kannada actor Maithreyi filed the case Aug 27 after Karthik got engaged to another woman at Madikeri in Kodagu district, about 230 km from here.
The judge also directed the 30-year-old Karthik to submit his passport to the court till the trial is completed.
The order came after week-long arguments by the prosecution and Karthik's counsel B.V. Acharya.
The court Sep 4 issued an arrest warrant against Karthik after he failed to appear before the investigation team despite repeated summons by police since Aug 29 for questioning on the charges by the model-turned-actress.
As Karthik filed an application for anticipatory bail Aug 30, his counsel sought time from police as the plea was being heard by the city's sessions court since then.
The case was filed on charges of rape and cheating under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Karthik got engaged to Swati, daughter of industrialist Nanaiah in Kodagu, Aug 27.
The probe team interrogated Maithreyi and recorded her statement and collected some documents, including certificates, photos and voice recordings Aug 28-30.
The Gowdas have denied the charges and accused Maithreyi of tarnishing their image. They also blamed political opponents for conspiring to bring disrepute to their family, after Maithreyi said she had joined the Congress two-three years ago as an ordinary member.
