The Karnataka High Court has on Thursday [July 30] extended the interim stay on all proceedings against the owner of a Kodagu homestay, who was charge-sheeted for offences under the now-repealed Foreigners Act 1946, in connection with the alleged rape of US national at his premises.

The court has also directed the petitioner to serve a complete set of papers on the counsel representing the victim who appeared today through counsel.

The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, hearing the homestay owner's plea to quash charge sheet, noted that Advocate Joseph Anthony had filed a memo of appearance on behalf of the second respondent/complainant, a US citizen, and directed the petitioner to forthwith serve all pleadings on him.

The Bench clarified that the interim order subsisting will continue, listing the matter for further hearing on August 12, 2026.

When the matter was taken up, Advocate Joseph Anthony submitted that he had already filed a memo of appearance on behalf of the second respondent- complainant woman.

“…Learned Counsel Joseph Anthony submits that he has already filed a memo of appearance on behalf of the second respondent-complainant. Petitioner to serve a set of papers on the said counsel forthwith. List on 12th august. Interim order subsisting will continue…”, the court accordingly noted.

For context, the High Court had on July 7 granted an interim stay on all proceedings against the owner. The high court while passing the interim order on July 7, directed that the complainant-victim who is now in USA be informed about the matter by electronic mail.

In the plea, Adv. Angad Kamath has argued that the chargesheet filed against the petitioner under Section 239 of the BNS and Section 7 r/w Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, was legally untenable.

He argues that the Foreigners Act had been officially repealed and the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 was enacted in its place, which makes the alleged offence compoundable.

During the hearing, the State Public Prosecutor and Kamath had jointly suggested that an amicus curia may be appointed to assist the court in the matter.

The petitioner had previously moved the high court in a separate plea seeking quashing of the rape FIR, and after hearing the matter at length, the court had declared the petitioner's arrest as illegal while permitting the investigation to continue and not quashing the FIR in its entirety.

The homestay owner was arrested on April 19 and subsequently sent to 14-day judicial custody. He was granted bail by the Sessions Court on May 2. The owner was initially booked for offences under Sections 64(1) (rape), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 238 and 239 BNS (concealing design to commit offence and giving false information).

In a connected matter, the High Court had earlier directed the State government to formulate a comprehensive policy for regulation of homestays, noting that the existing framework under Karnataka Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act does not properly address concerns of public safety, health, hygiene, and security. In the same case, the court also set aside the license revocation of the homestay owned by the petitioner.

Case Title: Palecanda Ponnappa @ Vishal v. State of Karnataka & Anr.

Case No: CRL.P 9779/2026