New Delhi: A day before the scheduled return to India of suspended Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) leader Prajwal Revanna, who is accused in sexual assault cases, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that it was awaiting a response from him to a notice issued as part of the process to revoke his diplomatic passport.
Prajwal, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, fled to Germany after the Karnataka State Commission for Women urged chief minister Siddaramaiah to investigate explicit videos allegedly showing him assaulting multiple women.
Two sexual assault cases have been registered against the 33-year-old lawmaker.
He is also seeking re-election as a member of parliament from Hassan, with the JD(S) being the regional ally of the ruling BJP.
Siddaramaiah, who had set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations, had written to the Union government to cancel Prajwal’s diplomatic passport and the request was acknowledged last week.
On Monday, Prajwal released a video claiming he would present himself before the SIT on May 31 at 10 am.
Meanwhile, the MEA said on Thursday (May 30) that it had “initiated action under provisions in the Passport Act, 1967 for revocation of the diplomatic passport of Shri Prajwal Revanna”.
“A show cause notice has been issued to the passport holder on May 23, 2024, giving him ten working days to respond to our notice. We are waiting for a response and will take further action as per the rules,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal at the weekly media briefing.
As per reports from Karnataka, the SIT is maintaining vigil at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda airport to arrest Prajwal upon his arrival.
