The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Karnataka): Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara criticized the Central Government on Sunday for not officially responding to the state’s request to cancel the diplomatic passport of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. Revanna faces charges of rape and sexual harassment and fled to Germany on April 27, after the second phase of elections.
Parameshwara questioned External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s statement that the Centre received the request from the state only on May 21. He asked why there had been no response to the Chief Minister’s letter sent on May 1 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “As far as I know, we have not got any information or letter so far. I have seen that the External Affairs Minister has told the media that they are taking action and in a couple of days they will cancel it, but we have not got any written communication on this,” Parameshwara stated.
He further emphasized the need for respect and timely response to letters from the Chief Minister’s Office. “Where is the (response for) first (CM’s) letter? When a Chief Minister writes a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, it has to get its due respect. That did not happen. The External Affairs Minister is saying that they got the letter from the state on May 21, so we have to ask where did the first letter go?” he added.
In the meantime, the Ministry of External Affairs has served a show-cause notice to Prajwal Revanna, asking him to explain why his diplomatic passport should not be canceled. This action followed the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) request to cancel Revanna’s diplomatic passport. The Special Court of Elected Representatives in Bengaluru had previously issued an arrest warrant against him.
The SIT has issued look-out circulars and requested Interpol via the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to locate Revanna. Interpol has issued a blue corner notice to ascertain his whereabouts. Reports suggest that the SIT is preparing to convert the blue corner notice into a red corner notice once Revanna’s diplomatic passport is canceled.
Indian citizens with diplomatic passports must surrender their regular passports. If Revanna’s diplomatic passport is canceled, he will lose his privileges, allowing the SIT to request Interpol to issue a red corner notice via the CBI.
The sexual abuse allegations against Prajwal Revanna surfaced after pen drives containing explicit videos were circulated in Hassan just before the elections on April 26. Revanna’s uncle, former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, urged him to face the probe if innocent, while his grandfather, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, stated he has no objection to action being taken if Revanna is found guilty.
As the case develops, the state government awaits a formal response from the Centre to ensure due process and accountability.