BSY is ‘no Tom, Dick or Harry’: HC pauses arrest

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Karnataka High Court on Friday restrained Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from arresting former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in connection with a POCSO case registered against him.

It also directed the veteran BJP leader to appear before CID, which is probing the case, on June 17. Questioning the necessity to arrest him, Justice S Krishna Dixit said he is the former CM of Karnataka and not some Tom, Dick or Harry.

“He is not some Tom, Dick or Harry. He is a former Chief Minister of State. Is it your case he will flee the country? What can he do by leaving to Delhi from Bangalore,” asked the Justice according to media reports.

A Bengaluru court on Thursday issued a nonbailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in the case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on March 14 this year.

Article 14 of the Constitution of India treats a “Tom, Dick, or Harry” & a former CM as equals before law. If a common man can be arrested, why should a former CM be special? If the sitting CMs of Delhi & Jharkhand can be arrested, what makes Mr. BSY of the BJP exceptional? —Saket Gokhale, Rajya Sabha MP

The Special Investigation Team of the CID had moved the First Fast Track Court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on Wednesday.

Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe. According to reports, the veteran BJP leader has gone to an “undisclosed” location in New Delhi.