The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stay on the trial proceedings against Karnataka’s former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in a case pertaining to the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader against the Karnataka High Court’s refusal to quash the case against him.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya issued notice to the Karnataka government to examine whether the matter should be remanded back to the High Court for fresh consideration, according to Live Law.

The High Court had on November 13 upheld a February order of a special court in Bengaluru that had taken cognisance of a chargesheet in the case and had directed Yediyurappa to appear before it.

The case against Yediyurappa was registered on March 14, 2024, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for allegedly assaulting a minor girl, who is a rape survivor in a separate case from 2015.

He also faces charges of sexual harassment under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code.

The 82-year-old leader is accused of having assaulted the girl on February 2, 2024, when she and her mother met him to seek help in the 2015 rape case.

During proceedings before the Supreme Court, advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Yediyurappa, submitted that the High Court had ignored key evidence, Bar and Bench reported.

“There are certain statements which prosecution suppresses,” said Luthra. “High Court has ignored facts that there are people present saying nothing as such happened. He [Yediyurappa] has been four times chief minister.”

The advocate also claimed that the BJP leader was “suffering due to political vendetta”, Live Law reported.

In response, the chief justice asked: “How can you compel High Court to hold a mini trial?”

During the hearing on November 13 in the High Court, the judge directed the special court not to insist on Yediyurappa’s appearance during the trial unless “his presence is essential”. It also clarified that he is free to seek discharge before the trial court.

On February 7, the High Court had granted Yediyurappa protection from arrest and sent the matter back to the trial court, noting that the special court had erred in taking cognisance of the chargesheet. It had then directed the court to pass a reasoned order.

The trial court had taken cognisance again on February 28, after which the High Court stayed the proceedings in March.

POCSO case against Yediyurappa

The complainant has said that she and her mother met Yediyurappa at his Bengaluru residence on February 2, 2024.

While her mother was explaining the details of the 2015 rape case, she was asked to wait in another room, where the former chief minister allegedly molested her.

Yediyurappa has denied the allegation. He told investigators in June 2024 that he had only been helping the family with legal support in the earlier rape case.

Meanwhile, Yediyurappa and his three associates, Arun YM, Rudresh M and Y Mariswamy, were also charged under provisions of the Indian Penal Code related to destruction of evidence and offering bribes for concealing the offence for allegedly destroying a video recorded by the girl’s mother during the confrontation with the former chief minister after the alleged incident of sexual assault.