Rape accused Karnataka ex-minister gets bail
By IANSThursday, June 24, 2010
BANGALORE - Former Karnataka minister H. Halappa, facing a charge of raping his friend’s wife, was Thursday given conditional bail by the high court.
Justice Subash Adi directed Halappa to provide a bond for Rs. 100,000, two sureties for the like sum and report to a police station once in a fortnight.
Halappa has been in judicial custody since May 9 but has not been in jail as he got admitted to a hospital saying he was suffering from multiple ailments.
Chandravathi, wife of Halappa’s friend, accused him of raping her in her house in Shimoga, about 270 km from here, in November last year.
Halappa quit as the food and civil supplies minister May 2 following media reports about the incident.
He evaded police for a week trying to get anticipatory bail but eventually surrendered in Shimoga, his home district, May 9.
Though sent to jail the same day, he got admitted to a Shimoga hospital complaining of heart ailment, asthma and vertigo. A week later, he was shifted to a government hospital in Bangalore.
Halappa is likely to be released on bail Friday after completing the formalities of executing the bond and sureties.
