The Karnataka High Court bench led by Justice M I Arun has reserved its verdict on former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s plea challenging the cognisance of a POCSO case registered against him, keeping the much-awaited decision pending for now.
A Karnataka High Court bench, led by Justice M I Arun, has reserved its ruling on former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s petition contesting the cognisance of a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against him.
The 81-year-old Yediyurappa is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his residence in Sanjaynagar, Bengaluru, on February 2, 2024.
The girl’s deceased mother had sought Yediyurappa’s assistance regarding a previous incident of sexual assault, leading to the Bengaluru police filing an FIR on March 14, 2024.
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This marks the second occasion Yediyurappa has approached the High Court regarding the cognisance taken by a lower court. His prior challenge was successful, with a bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna set-a siding the initial order from the trial court on the grounds that it lacked proper deliberation.
The case was subsequently sent back for reconsideration.
During the current proceedings, concerns were raised about whether the trial court adequately examined the facts when taking cognisance a second time. Senior counsel C V Nagesh, representing Yediyurappa, argued that the lower court did not properly reassess the evidence available.
The bench, summarizing part of the defense’s argument, observed that “accused and the audio recording on one side vis-a-vis the statement of other witnesses gives credibility to the prosecution’s case,” but further noted that “the trial court in the impugned order has not referred to that audio recording… this according to him amounts to non-application of mind.”
In response, the special public prosecutor for the state claimed that the minor girl did not possess her own phone, which allegedly contained the original recording of her conversation with Yediyurappa, but rather her mother’s phone, which was “forcibly destroyed.”
The prosecutor also stated,
“He (Yediyurappa) has paid money, which he has admitted in the conversation.”
During the hearings, it was contended that since the cognisance itself is under question, the one-year statutory timeframe for concluding POCSO trials would not be applicable.