The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday asked the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) not to take any coercive action, including arrest, against Jatin Vijayakumar Hukkeri, husband of actor Ranya Rao, who has been arrested by the DRI in the gold smuggling case.
Justice Hemant Chandangoudar passed the interim order on the petition filed by 39-year-old Mr. Jatin, who has complained that DRI sleuths were calling him for interrogation multiple times without following the due process of law even though he had cooperated with them for the probe.
He also claimed that there was a chance of his arrest by alleging that the officers of DRI had started harassing him since March 9 and physically assaulted him. The DRI officers are also not following the guidelines issued by the courts for summoning persons for interrogation and detaining him for hours, it has been alleged in the petition.
It was pointed out to the court that Mr. Jatin has not been arraigned as an accused in the case, and he was neither involved in the alleged gold smuggling nor beneficiary of smuggling.
Soured relationship
Mr. Jatin, in his petition, stated he met Ms. Rao through a marriage broker on October 6, 2024. They got engaged on October 23, and their marriage was solemnised on November 27, 2024, in Bengaluru.
However, a mere month into the marriage, he and Ms. Ranya failed to connect well and started having arguments and disagreements. Due to the persisting issues, there was a lack of transparency and communication in the relationship. The family members and well wishers tried counselling multiple times, it has been pointed out in the petition.
It has been stated in the petition that Mr. Jatin is facing health issues due to the trauma of interrogation while pointing out that he was diagnosed with anxiety issues even prior to being summoned by the DRI officials due to serious matrimonial issues between him and his wife.
Published – March 11, 2025 10:30 pm IST