The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by rape-accused Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati who had sought a stay on his arrest, ANI reported. The bench asked the minister to approach a lower court for relief in the case. Clarifying that it was not monitoring the case, the apex court said it had not ordered for Prajapati’s arrest, but had only asked for an FIR to be filed against him, reported India Today.

Prajapati’s aide, who is also an accused in the case, was arrested by the Lucknow Police later on Monday. Chandrapal Singh had surrendered before the police.

On Saturday, the UP police had issued a non-bailable warrant against Prajapati, who is on the run. Warrants have also been issued against six others in connection with the case of rape. The Samajwadi Party government has also issued lookout circulars against the accused.

On Sunday, UP Governor Ram Naik had written to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asking him to justify why Prajapti was still part of the state Cabinet. “Serious question of constitutional morality and dignity arise on his remaining in the Cabinet”, Naik had said in his letter.

On February 17, the apex court had ordered an FIR against the Samajwadi Party leader in connection with the rape case. In 2016, the minister was accused of raping a 35-year-old woman and sexually assaulting her daughter for two years.

In January 2017, the Election Commission had censured Prajapati for breaching the Model Code of Conduct, which bans “corrupt practices and bribing voters”. In an FIR, the Fatehpur police had said that they had seized 4,452 sarees, allegedly meant to be distributed to voters, from a vehicle that was believed to be on its way to the minister’s residence.