HC restrains CID from arresting Yediyurappa in POCSO case
Asks him to appear before CID on Jun 17
A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a nonbailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in the case registered against him under the POCSO Act on March 14 this year
BENGALURU: Karnataka High Court on Friday restrained the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from arresting former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in connection with a POCSO case registered against him.
It also directed the veteran BJP leader to appear before the CID, which is probing the case, on June 17.
A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in the case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on March 14 this year.
The Special Investigation Team of the CID had moved the First Fast Track Court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday.
Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe.
According to reports, the veteran BJP leader has gone to an “undisclosed” location in New Delhi.
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 molested her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony here.
Yediyurappa, who has denied the charge and said he would fight the case legally, had filed two separate petitions in the High Court, seeking anticipatory bail and quashing of the FIR.
The High Court, which adjourned the hearing for two weeks, during the hearing observed that the 81-yearold Yediyurappa is now in the sunset of his life and it is not appropriate to arrest him.
Noting that Yediyurappa had sent a letter to the police volunteering to appear for inquiry on July 17, Justice Krishna S Dixit said, “the court cannot jump to the conclusion that a case is made out for arrest or detention or for custodial interrogation of the petitioner who happens to be the former chief minister of the state and in the late evening of his life with ailments natural to that age.”
Senior Advocate C V Nagesh appeared for Yediyurappa and argued that the latter had been served notice under 41 (a) of CrPC and, hence, there was no requirement for his arrest. Nagesh also cited Supreme Court verdicts and requested the court to grant anticipatory bail.