Prajwal arrested after completing due process, legal procedures will follow: G Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said suspended JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, facing allegations of sexually abusing several women, was arrested after completing due process, and further legal procedures will follow.
He said the arrest will help the Special Investigation Team formed by the state government to probe cases against the Hassan MP.
Prajwal was arrested at the early hours of Friday by the SIT, minutes after he arrived from Germany.
"Prajwal Revanna landed around 12.40 am -12:50 am from Germany's Munich. As there was an arrest warrant against him, SIT accordingly arrested him and took him into custody and further legal procedures they will follow today. I'm yet to discuss with our officials," Parameshwara said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "As of now, the only information is that he (Prajwal) has come. He has been arrested and according to law, what action should be taken, like -- medical examination, presenting him before the judiciary. All those procedures will follow, including questioning him."
"...naturally he should have cooperated to the arrest. His immigration papers were cleared and he was brought out (of airport). As he had a diplomatic passport, things happened easily, after completing all the due process, he was arrested," he added.
Asked if the government will appeal to more victims to come forward, now that Prajwal has been arrested, Parameshwara said, "We have already said, those who have faced trouble from him to come forward and give complaints to SIT and police, and we will provide them all kind of protection. We will have to wait and see further developments."
To a question about reports that Prajwal had destroyed evidence in his phone and is claiming that he has lost the phone, the minister said that he was not aware of it and hadn't heard from SIT on the same.
Responding to a question about whether the arrest was delayed, the Home Minister said, if Prajwal was in the country or in the state, a team could have been sent to secure him, but as he was abroad there were certain procedures to be followed.
"So through CBI, Interpol was informed and a Blue Corner Notice was issued against him. Those procedures were followed. Knowing all those things and thinking that in case, the Lok Sabha poll results go against him, the diplomatic passport would be withdrawn, and he will have to come back, he had issued a video statement that he would surrender on May 31. He has come now. It will help SIT in the investigation," he added.
The 33-year-old Prajwal, grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, is facing charges sexually abusing many women. He has been so far booked in three cases of sexual assault. There are also charges of rape against him.
He had left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan went to polls. A 'Blue Corner Notice' seeking information on his whereabouts was issued by the Interpol earlier, following a request by the SIT via the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the international police cooperation body to collect additional information from its member countries about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.
A Special Court for Elected Representatives issued an arrest warrant on May 18 against Prajwal, following an application moved by the SIT. The Congress-led Karnataka government has urged the Centre to cancel his diplomatic passport.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has served a show-cause notice to Prajwal asking why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled as sought by the Karnataka government in view of allegations of sexual abuse against him.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
