BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the order passed by the special court to take cognisance of the offences against former chief minister B S Yediyurappa and three others in a case registered against them under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and IPC. The high court also exempted them from personal appearance before the special court till the next date of hearing.
Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur passed the interim order after hearing the arguments of senior counsel C V Nagesh, representing the accused Yediyurappa and others, and Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty.
The four accused, Yediyurappa, Aruna Y M, Rudresha Marulasiddaiah and Mariswamy, had moved the high court questioning the order dated February 28, 2025, passed by the special court to take cognisance of the offences and issuing summons to them.
They had also challenged the legality of the registration of the First Information Report (FIR) under Section 8 of the Pocso Act, 2012 and 354A of the IPC, 1860, with Sadashivanagar police station by the mother of the minor victim. The victim alleged that the BJP leader sexually assaulted her when she went to his residence for help on February 2, 2024.
Referring to the similar interim order granted by the high court on July 12, 2024, in an earlier round of proceedings, the court said that the matter required deeper consideration and that the petitioners deserve a similar interim order in both these cases, till the next date of hearing.
C V Nagesh argued that no incident occurred as claimed by the complainant. Even the witnesses, including the president of the Working Journalists’ Association, have stated that no such incident happened as alleged in the complaint at the residence of Yediyurappa.
He also argued that the high court granted an interim order on July 12, 2024, in writ petitions against the proceedings in an earlier round. Those petitions were disposed of with remitting back the matter to the special court for consideration afresh, he argued.
Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty contended that it is not a matter of consideration for an interim order. The special court has taken into consideration certain aspects and prima facie comes to a conclusion that an offence is made out and therefore there are sufficient materials before the court to proceed against the accused persons. Once the special court has already considered this aspect and the question of staying the order of taking cognisance is detrimental to the case of the prosecution, he argued.
On February 7, 2025, the High Court quashed the order passed by the special court taking cognisance of the offences without applying mind and recording the reasons against Yediyurappa and others under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 and IPC.
However, the high court said the crime, investigation and the final report submitted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will remain intact, while remitting the matter back to the special court to pass an appropriate order on the final report, bearing in mind the observations made in this order.
Accordingly, the special court took cognisance of the offences afresh on February 28 and issued summons to Yediyurappa and others.