Karnataka news: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday (June 13) said that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case against former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa, has issued notice to him to appear before it for probe, and he may be arrested if necessary. He detailed the plan of action and said that the charge-sheet has to be filed by June 15 and Yediyurappa’s statement has to be recorded.
What did the Home Minister say?
"Notice has been served procedurally, the charge-sheet has to be filed by June 15. Before that they (CID) will file the charge-sheet. They will have to follow procedure for it. They will have to record his statement and produce him (in court), all these are procedures and the department will do it," he told reporters.
In response to a query, the Home Minister said, “If necessary they will arrest. I can't say (if) it is necessary, CID has to say it. If they feel it is necessary, they will do it”.
Yediyurappa, a BJP veteran who is also a member of the party’s parliamentary board, is currently in the national capital, and is likely to join the probe after his return, sources close to him have said.
According to police, Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February 2 this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony.
Developments in the case
On March 14, hours after the registration of the case by Sadashivanagar police, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan ordered the transfer of the case to the CID for further investigation with immediate effect.
The 54-year-old woman, who had levelled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital last month, due to lung cancer.
Yediyurappa has denied the charge and said he would fight the case legally. In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to the office. The government, meanwhile, has appointed Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ashok H. Nayak to represent the CID in the case.
Yediyurappa has moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR.
(With PTI inputs)
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