Karnataka high court to hear Hartal Halappa's bail plea today

Rape accused former minister Hartal Halappa filed his bail application before the high court of Karnataka on Monday.
The vacation bench would hear the case on Tuesday.

Halappa directly appealed to the high court since his anticipatory bail application was rendered ineffective following his surrender in Shimoga on Sunday.

In his application, the former food minister sought regular bail under Section 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Former judge and senior counsel Ravi B Naik would appear before the vacation bench on behalf of the tainted politician.

The bail application submitted that the alleged rape victim and her husband had falsely implicated Halappa to tarnish his image and to finish him off politically.

Meanwhile, pressure was mounting on BJP state president KS Eshwarappa and chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to expel Halappa from the party.

Senior BJP and RSS leaders were demanding the expulsion of Halappa to prevent further damage to the party’s image. According to sources, the party leadership would take a decision after the second phase of Grama Panchayat elections.

A section of BJP leaders, who demanded the party to disown Halappa, said he could be reinstated if he came out clean.
Halappa had been in hiding ever since the rape case was filed on May 2. However, after his surrender, he disputed claims that he was in hiding following the filing of the case.