New Delhi, May 30 (UNI) The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that suspended Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexual assault, was served a show cause notice for revocation of his diplomatic passport on May 23 and has to respond within 10 days.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, answering queries at his media briefing, said that the ministry received a request from the Karnataka government on May 21 for revocation of Revanna’s passport.
"We received a request from the Karnataka government on May 21. On May 23, as per the Indian Passport Act, we initiated action for cancellation of the (diplomatic) passport of the Member of Parliament," Jaiswal said.
"On May 23, we issued a show-cause notice to him. He has to respond to the notice within 10 days. We are waiting for his response. Accordingly, we will take things forward once we hear from him, or when the 10-day period expires," he said.
Prajwal, the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, left India on April 27, a day after voting for the Lok Sabha elections took place in his constituency. He has been accused of sexually abusing numerous women and recording them on his phone.
Last week, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take "prompt and necessary" actions to cancel Prajwal's diplomatic passport.
The chief minister sent a similar letter to the prime minister on May 1.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Karnataka government to probe the sexual abuse charges against Prajwal wrote the MEA to cancel his diplomatic passport after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a local court.
Earlier this month, Jaiswal said Revanna travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport but did not seek political clearance for the visit.
UNI RN