A Bengaluru court has granted bail to actor Prakash Raj over allegations tied to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He is accused of being registered to vote in multiple states at the time and leaving that detail out of his official election affidavit. With bail now secured, the case is set to go to trial.
Actor appears before court voluntarily
As per Bar and Bench report, on July 10, Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyoti Shantappa Kale granted bail to actor Prakash Raj. As part of his bail conditions, he must pay a ₹4,000 security deposit and attend all future court hearings. The court had previously issued a non-bailable warrant for Raj because they could not reach him to deliver his court summons. However, the actor voluntarily appeared in court on Friday.
His lawyer, Nagarjuna, explained that Raj never actually received the warrant and only learned about the legal proceedings from the news. Nagarjuna also mentioned that Raj has surrendered his Tamil Nadu voter ID.
Dharmapal, the lawyer representing the person who filed the complaint, stated that the charges against Raj are non-cognisable (less serious offenses). After hearing from both sides, the judge agreed to grant bail.
What the case is about
The case began with a private complaint filed by Bengaluru resident K Dileep Kumar. On August 1, 2025, the magistrate took cognisance of the matter under Sections 31 and 125A of the Representation of the People Act after finding sufficient material to proceed against Prakash Raj.
Prakash Raj had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Bengaluru Central as an independent candidate. In his election affidavit, he stated that his name was registered in the electoral roll of Bengaluru’s Shantinagar Assembly constituency.
The complainant, however, claimed that Raj’s name was also listed in three other electoral rolls at the same time. These included two entries in the Velachery Assembly constituency in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and one in the Serilingampally Assembly constituency in Telangana.
According to the complaint, Sections 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Act prohibit a person from being registered as a voter in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency. It further alleges that Section 31 deals with false declarations related to electoral rolls, while Section 125A covers filing a false affidavit.
Evidence before the court
The person who filed the complaint testified in court and provided seven documents as proof. These included Prakash Raj’s 2019 election affidavits and voter records showing he was registered in Velachery and Serilingampally. After reviewing the evidence, the judge noted that Raj appeared to be on three different voter lists in 2019, even though his official affidavit only listed Shantinagar.
Because of this, the court ruled there was enough evidence to proceed with charges under Sections 31 and 125A of the Representation of the People Act. Prakash Raj has been granted bail, and the case will now go to trial.