The special court to try cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Bengaluru has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the former Chief Minister of Karnataka and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, on Thursday.
Judge NM Ramesh passed the order to issue NBW after hearing the application filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing a case registered against Yediyurappa, on the grounds that he did not appear for enquiry despite the issuance of notice.
Sadashivanagar police had booked Yediyurappa under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 354A of the IPC based on a complaint dated March 14, 2024 filed by the mother of a 17-year-old girl alleging that Yediyurappa had sexually assaulted her daughter on February 2, 2024, at his Dollars Colony Residence in Bengaluru.
Before issuing the NBW, the court noted that the police had already issued a notice to the accused under Section 41(A) of CrPC, saying that there was no necessity of his arrest. Stating that there is no necessity of NBW since it is a non-bailable offence, the court asked the prosecution why the police were seeking for issuance of NBW now, after keeping mum all these days.
Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Naik submitted that the accused did not appear for the investigation on Wednesday (June 12) and is trying to cover up the case. He also alleged that the accused attempted to destroy the evidence by offering Rs 2 lakh to the complainant.
Further, he argued that there was an attempt to delete the video of the act committed by the accused, which was recorded by the complainant, who is the mother of the victim. As he is a former Chief Minister, he may influence the witnesses.
He could have appeared before the investigating officer and there was no necessity of going to Delhi ignoring the notice issued to him. It is difficult to arrest him without a warrant as he is out of state, the Special Public Prosecutor argued.
HC to hear BSY's plea seeking anticipatory bail
Meanwhile, Yediyurappa approached the Karnataka High Court by filing two separate petitions in connection with the case.
In one petition, he sought quashing the FIR registered against him under the provisions of the IPC and POCSO Act.
In another petition, he prayed the high court to grant him anticipatory bail, apprehending his arrest in the case. Both the petitions are listed for hearing on Friday.
Complainant's son also moves HC
Meanwhile, since the complainant passed away after filing the complaint, her son moved the high court seeking directions to the CID to arrest Yediyurappa and subjected him to interrogation.
He also prayed the court to issue directions to the investigating agency to collect all digital material including CCTV footage, memory card, hard disc, etc., connected to the case.
A direction must also be issued to the investigating agency to expedite the investigation and file a charge sheet within a month, he prayed.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing soon.