Ranya Rao’s mother has approached the Karnataka High Court after her daughter remains in custody despite getting bail in a gold smuggling case. Authorities cite a preventive detention under Cofeposa as the reason.
Bengaluru: Today, on June 03, Kannada actress Ranya Rao’s mother has filed a habeas corpus petition before the Karnataka High Court, questioning why her daughter is still being kept in custody even after getting bail in a gold smuggling case.
The petition asks the court to direct the authorities to bring Ranya to court and explain the reason for her continued detention.
Ranya Rao was earlier granted bail on May 20 by the Special Court for Economic Offences. But even after getting bail, she has not been released because a separate case under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (Cofeposa) has been filed against her.
This law gives the government the power to keep a person in preventive detention if they are suspected of being involved in smuggling or activities that harm India’s foreign exchange reserves.
Ranya was arrested on March 3 at Bengaluru airport. She was allegedly trying to smuggle around 14.8 kg of gold from Dubai into India. During a personal search, customs officials reportedly found gold bars hidden using bandages and tissues around her waist and legs.
More gold pieces were also found inside her shoes and front pockets. The seized gold was said to be of 24-carat purity and was valued at over Rs 12.56 crore.
Because of this, Ranya was booked under both the Customs Act and the Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act.
Ranya Rao and the second accused, Tarun Kondaru Raju, were both granted bail by the Special Court for Economic Offences last month.
The court directed them to provide two sureties each and a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh.
They were also told that they
“would not leave the country” and “would not repeat the offence”.
Bail was granted because the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) could not file the charge sheet within the legally fixed time period. The bail order was passed by Justice Vishwanath C Gowdar.
Even after this, Ranya is still in custody due to the Cofeposa case, which allows authorities to
“detain individuals suspected of involvement in smuggling or activities detrimental to the conservation of foreign exchange”.
During the hearing on the habeas corpus petition, Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath informed the High Court that “objections had already been filed in the matter”.
The court then adjourned the proceedings to June 18 for further hearing.
Case Title:
Rukmini Rao v. Union of India & Others
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