Karnataka High Court reserves orders on BS Yediyurappa plea to quash POCSO case

Former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Friday denied all charges of having sexually assaulted a minor girl last year, and urged the Karnataka High Court to quash the case registered against him under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act)..Yediyurappa’s counsel also addressed the prosecution's claim that the victim had a recording of a conversation where her mother was heard confronting Yediyurappa, with the minister replying that he was only "checking" the victim. Senior Advocate CV Nagesh told the Court that Yediyurappa had admitted to checking the victim, but it did not mean he had physically checked her. “He was checking on the details of a previous case in which the victim had been sexually assaulted by another person and for which she and her mother had previously approached him (Yediyurappa) for help,” Nagesh told single-judge Justice M Nagaprasanna..Justice Nagaprasanna however said the Court was not sure if all the talk about “checking” could be interpreted in the manner that Nagesh was insisting upon.“That mobile recording on checking, where when questioned (by the victim’s mother) he says he was only checking..it is disturbing,” the Court said..Nagesh also argued that the trial court had failed to apply its mind before taking cognisance of the case against Yediyurappa. He said that the investigating officer too had failed to adhere to the provisions of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code.Senior Counsel Professor Ravi Varma Kumar, who appeared for the Karnataka CID that is probing the POCSO case against Yediyurappa, told the Court that the prosecution has adequate material against the BJP leader..The High Court said it will consider all submissions and reserved its orders on Yediyurappa’s petition seeking quashing of the POCSO case against him..The case pertains to allegations made by a woman that Yediyurappa molested her 17-year-old daughter who had accompanied her on a visit to the senior BJP leader's residence to seek some help.The girl’s mother, now deceased, had lodged a police complaint on March 14, 2024, accusing Yediyurappa of having sexually harassed the girl. She had also said in her complaint that the former Chief Minister had tried to hush up the issue by offering her money.Based on such complaint, the police registered a first information report (FIR) under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 354(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of sexual harassment of a minor.In May last year, the complainant-woman died at a private hospital in Bengaluru.