'Heinous offence': Yediyurappa must face trial in POCSO case, Karnataka govt tells HC

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa

The Karnataka government on January 15 told the High Court that former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa must face trial in the POCSO case filed against him. Appearing for Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID), senior counsel Ravi Varma Kumar told single-judge Justice M Nagaprasanna that the offence of "sexually assaulting a minor was a 'heinous' one and hence, Yediyurappa should face trial in the case".

The state government urged the HC to dismiss the petition filed by Yediyurappa seeking quashing of the criminal case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for alleged sexual assault of a minor girl in February last year.

"A quashing petition under Section 482 (of the Code of Criminal Procedure) in a case under the POCSO Act is not maintainable since there is a statutory assumption of guilt in such cases on part of the accused," Kumar told the Court.

The senior advocate also presented in the Court the statement of the victim and a voice recording recovered from the survivor's phone allegedly containing a conversation between her mother and Yediyurappa. It was the conversation that took place after the victim had narrated the incident to her mother.

As per the recording, the woman was heard asking Yediyurappa why he sexually assaulted her minor daughter. In his response, the former CM claimed that the girl was like his own granddaughter and he had merely been checking her.

The woman, now deceased, had lodged a police complaint on March 14, 2024 accusing Yediyurappa of having sexually harassing her 17-year-old daughter. As per the complaint, the incident took place when the woman, along with her daughter, had gone to visit the senior BJP leader at his residence.

Based on the complaint, the police the 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.