The High Court of Karnataka has found no fault in the order passed by the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) keeping Kannada film actor Harshavardhini Ranya Rao under preventive detention by invoking provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA), 1974, for allegedly smuggling gold into the country.
“The order of detention has been passed after considering all the relevant aspects of the matter…,” said a Division Bench comprising Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice Vijaykumar A. Patil while dismissing a writ of habeas corpus petition filed by H.P. Rohini, mother of Ranya Rao.
The petitioner had challenged the April 22, 2025, order for keeping her daughter Ranya Rao under the preventive detention after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence disclosed that the actress has been indulging in gold smuggling after she was caught red-handed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru while smuggling around 14 kg of gold bars from Dubai on March 3.
Pen drive
The major reason raised in the petition to contend that the detention was illegal was that a pen drive, containing documents related to her detention, was not made available to her, and it was served on her mother after the statutory deadline of 15 days.
However, the Bench rejected this contention while pointing out that the contents of the pen drive was played on a laptop, and she was shown the entire contents in the prison within five days from the date of detention order as norms of the prison did not allow handing over of any electronic devices to the inmates.
Also, the Bench noted that Ranya Rao had asked the officers to handover the pen drive to her lawyer, who was initially inaccessible to the officials. Though the lawyer later agreed to collect it from the officers, he did not turn up and subsequently had messaged the officers to hand over the pen drive to Ranya Rao in person.
As the officers finally handed over the pen drive to the petitioner after repeated attempts to reach her, the Bench said that no fault can be found for delayed delivery of pen drive as Ranya had acknowledged viewing of the pen drive’s contents in the prison.
‘Transnational smuggling’
The CEIB had pointed out to the court that the material gathered during the investigation demonstrates the existence of a well-orchestrated, commercially motivated, transnational smuggling syndicate operated by Ranya Rao and others over a sustained period.
On her claim that her detention was not necessary as her passport has been seized, the CEIB authority had said that absence of a passport does not impede her potentiality and propensity to continue these illegal activities as she, being the kingpin of a smuggling network, has the resources to orchestrate and execute smuggling activities even without travelling abroad.
Her involvement, the CEIB had said, is not limited to physical smuggling but extends to planning, organising, and coordinating the smuggling operations through associates and intermediaries.
Published – December 20, 2025 08:55 pm IST
