Supreme Court stays trial against B S Yediyurappa in POCSO case

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, December 2, 2025: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted relief to former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in the POCSO case registered against him. The court issued a notice on the plea challenging the Karnataka High Court’s order that had allowed proceedings to continue. 

The court further directed that all trial court proceedings remain stayed until the matter is heard. This interim protection marks a significant development in the ongoing case.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard the Special Leave Petition filed by BS Yediyurappa challenging the Karnataka High Court’s November 13 order, which had refused to quash the POCSO case against him. The Supreme Court issued notice to the State CID and the complainant, limited to examining whether the matter should be sent back to the High Court for a fresh hearing on its merits.

Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra and Siddharth Dave, appearing for Yediyurappa, argued that the High Court had wrongly avoided examining the merits by relying on earlier court observations stating that the case should go to trial. They submitted that a previous judgment, which quashed the first cognisance order and directed the trial court to reconsider the matter, had clearly preserved Yediyurappa’s right to raise all legal objections. Luthra also told the bench that Yediyurappa, an 88-year-old four-time Chief Minister, was facing a case driven by “political vendetta."

According to the complaint filed by the victim’s mother, Yediyurappa allegedly sexually assaulted her then 17-year-old daughter during a meeting at his Bengaluru residence in February last year. The Sadashivanagar police registered the case on March 14, 2024, after which it was handed over to the CID. The agency re-registered the FIR and later filed a chargesheet invoking Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Sections 354A, 204, and 214 read with Section 37 of the IPC.