'Even Apology Won't Wipe Away What You Said': Karnataka High Court Pulls Up BJP MLA Basangouda Yatnal Over Comments On Ranya Rao

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday [June 25] came down heavily on BJP MLA Basangouda R. Patil Yatnal for his alleged vulgar remarks against Kannada actress Ranya Rao in connection with the gold smuggling case, orally remarking that 'even an apology would not erase' the words uttered by him.

The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna while hearing the MLA's plea, gave him two weeks' time to reflect on his conduct, and orally said:

“I will take it on July 17, not a problem. By then if wisdom dawns, do something, otherwise I will pass an order…”.

Meanwhile, the court clarified that the interim order staying further proceedings in the FIR against Yatnal would continue to operate until the next date of hearing.

The counsel appearing for Yatnal, Advocate Venkatesh P Dalwai, contended today that the alleged comment was never about 'the general class of women'.

He further stated that Ranya Rao was in custody when the alleged statement was made and she could not have seen or heard it, and that the requirement of law is that she should have seen or heard the statement for it to be an offence.

Dalwai submitted that there was no statement in the original complaint with reference to the knowledge of the real person, i.e., Ranya Rao, about the alleged comments.

To this, the judge orally said:

“…It was all over. In newspapers too…Will you file an apology?... This is not correct at all. Even that[apology] won't wipe away what you have said…”

Similarly, the respondent-complainant also pushed for an affidavit by the MLA, stating that his comments were an 'insult to all women'.

On another aspect, Advocate Mahesh YL appearing for the complainant drew the court's attention to a memo he placed on record regarding Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's (DRI's) search and seizure which, as per the counsel, indicated that the gold was recovered from other parts of the body and not from the genitals as alleged by the MLA.

“No…it was not as alleged by the MLA...”, the court also orally said.

Further, the complainant's counsel also refuted Yatnal's defence that the controversial statement was made in North Kannada dialect, as the word uttered by the MLA carried the same meaning regardless of the dialect.

“…Be it whichever dialect, the word uttered by the petitioner has the same meaning...”, Advocate Mahesh told the court.

The complainant's counsel further argued that Yatnal, a sitting MLA, had repeated the same statement about the actress twice before the media. The MLA had then claimed that he wanted to disclose the names of two ministers involved in the alleged scam, however, he never disclosed those names.

After hearing the submissions by the complainant and the MLA in detail, the court listed the matter for July 17 and directed that the interim order of stay on proceedings would continue until then.

Before the High Court, the BJP MLA from Bijapur City Constituency has sought the quashing of FIR registered at High Grounds Police Station Bengaluru, for the offence punishable under Section 79 [word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman] BNS.

The petitioner was booked by the police based on a complaint filed by Ms. Akula Anuradha, who claims to be a family friend of the actress.

It has been alleged that Yatnal, while speaking on the floor of the assembly and then to the media on March 17, 2025, about the gold smuggling case, had made vulgar remarks about Rao regarding the mode of carrying gold.

On June 8, the High Court had directed the State to secure the entire investigation and trial court records, including the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) report and chargesheet in the gold smuggling case against Ranya Rao, to ascertain the veracity of remarks made by the BJP MLA.

Ranya Rao was released from Central Prison, on April 22 after completing her 1-year detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act in a case pertaining to alleged gold smuggling. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed her petition challenging her detention.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized gold bars worth ₹12.56 crore from Ranya at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on March 3, 2025. A subsequent search of her home had yielded gold jewellery worth ₹2.06 crore and Indian currency amounting to ₹2.67 crore.

The detention order under COFEPOSA Act was passed while the actress was in judicial custody after being arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on allegations of smuggling gold, whereafter she was booked for offences u/s 135(1)(a) and 135(1)(b), 135 (1)(a)(i)(a) 135(1)(a)(i)(b), 135(1)(b)(i)(a), 135(1)(b)(i)(b) of the Customs Act.

Case Title: Sri Basangouda R. Patil (Yatnal) v. State of Karnataka & Anr.

Case No: Crl.P. 4600/2025