The counsel for actress Ranya Rao has referred to as into query the presence of two variations of a consent for search given by her to the Directorate of Income Intelligence (DRI) after she was allegedly intercepted with 14.2 kg of gold on her physique on the Kempegowda Worldwide Airport in Bengaluru on March 3.
Senior counsel Kiran Javali, who appeared for Rao throughout the bail listening to in a classes courtroom, argued on Tuesday that the DRI had supplied a modified model of a consent for search of her individual in the middle of submitting objections to her newest bail plea. Javali questioned an in depth model of the consent for search by claiming that it was totally different from the copy of the unique consent that was supplied to a Justice of the Peace after the arrest.
Showing on behalf of the advocate on document, B S Girish, Javali additionally raised questions over the process of the bodily search of Rao adopted by the DRI underneath Part 102 of the Customs Act.
Earlier, a Justice of the Peace’s courtroom had rejected Rao’s advocates’ argument that the DRI didn’t adjust to Part 102 of the Customs Act and didn’t acquire the written consent of the actress earlier than conducting a bodily search to seek out the gold hid on her physique.
The argument can’t be accepted as a result of “there’s written consent of accused No.1 on document to indicate the compliance of the stated part. The stated consent at this juncture is enough to collect triable case towards the accused No.1,” the particular Justice of the Peace’s courtroom had dominated in its March 14 order.
Underneath Part 102 of the Customs Act, “when any officer of customs is about to go looking any individual underneath the provisions of part 100 or part 101, the officer of customs shall, if such individual so requires, take him with out pointless delay to the closest Gazetted Officer of customs or Justice of the Peace”.
The DRI has argued that Rao gave her consent to be introduced earlier than a gazetted Customs officer of the rank of deputy director, who was current on the airport on the time of the interception, to acquire clearance for a bodily search.
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The senior counsel for the DRI, Madhu N Rao, argued on Tuesday that the DRI was in full compliance with the arrest process mandated by the regulation in the middle of Rao’s arrest. “It’s not simply substantial compliance however full compliance,” the DRI counsel argued. The counsel additional argued that Rao was served with an arrest memo outlining the explanations for her arrest as mandated by Supreme Court docket rulings.
The DRI counsel stated that Rao was the supply of the funds with which gold was bought in Dubai for smuggling to India by her affiliate, Telugu actor Tarun Konduru Raju, 36, alias Virat Konduru.
The DRI probe is of a delicate nature, and the company is verifying the supply of gold in Dubai and its subsequent buy in India, the DRI counsel argued. The DRI acknowledged that the gold in Dubai was bought with funds transferred by hawala routes by Rao and that the tickets for journey to Dubai by the actress and Konduru had been booked utilizing funds supplied by her. Releasing Rao on bail can be detrimental to the investigation, the DRI counsel argued.
The classes courtroom posted the bail plea of the actress for orders on March 27. Konduru’s bail plea can also be due for a listening to on the identical day.
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Earlier, a particular Justice of the Peace’s courtroom for financial offences cited Rao’s frequent journey to Dubai – together with 27 visits since January 2025 – the possession of a Dubai Resident Id Card, and a risk to nationwide safety for denial of bail to the actress.
Rao was arrested on the Bengaluru worldwide airport on March 3 when she arrived from Dubai with 14.2 kg of gold price ₹ 12.56 crore wrapped on her physique. She is alleged to have tried to evade ₹ 4.83 crore in Customs responsibility by her act.
The actress was intercepted by DRI officers when she didn’t declare the gold consignment on her individual however as a substitute walked by a inexperienced channel on the airport with the escort of a Bengaluru police protocol official.
Rao is the stepdaughter of senior Karnataka DGP-rank IPS officer Okay Ramachandra Rao. She misused the police protocol service obtainable on the airport to the DGP for gold smuggling, the DRI has claimed.