Passport only revoked on court’s order, says MEA after Siddaramaiah request

The ministry confirmed that Revanna travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport.

Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now!

Also Read: ‘Not a sex scandal but mass rape’, says Rahul Gandhi on charges against Prajwal Revanna

Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former premier and JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda, left India for Germany even as a special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the allegations against him. Numerous videos, purportedly involving Prajwal, have been circulated in Karnataka and some appear to depict sexual assault.

Asked about the Karnataka chief minister writing to the Union government to revoke Revanna’s passport and to take steps to bring him back to India, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that according to the provisions of the Passport Act of 1967, passports can only be revoked on the directions of a court.

“As regards the possible revocation of passport of any individual, I would refer you to the relevant provisions of the Passport Act 1967. We are not in receipt of any directions from any court in this regard,” he said.

Responding to another question on whether Revanna used a diplomatic passport for his travel, Jaiswal told a regular media briefing: “Yes, he travelled on a diplomatic passport.” He said holders of diplomatic passports don’t require a visa to travel to Germany.

Jaiswal added, “No political clearance was either sought from or issued by the ministry of external affairs in respect of the travel of the said MP to Germany. Obviously, no visa note was issued either.”

A “visa note” is a note verbale, or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, sent by the external affairs ministry to the embassy of a foreign country to facilitate the issuance of a visa.

Jaiswal further said: “The ministry has also not issued any visa note for any other country for the said MP.”

A first information report (FIR) with allegations of sexual abuse was filed on Sunday against Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna, who is a member of the Karnataka assembly, on a complaint by a woman who worked at their home. The woman alleged she was sexually abused multiple times between 2019 and 2022.

The woman further alleged in her complaint that Prajwal Revanna and HD Revanna sexually assaulted women workers at their homes.

The JD(S) on Tuesday suspended Revanna, the candidate from Hassan parliamentary constituency in Karnataka, from the party.

“The party has already welcomed the SIT probe, which has been ordered by the state government. In the meeting, we decided to support the investigation completely. Since there is an allegation that there has been disrespect towards the women, we have recommended to our national president HD Deve Gowda to suspend him from the party,” said senior JD(S) leader GT Devegowda.

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  

  Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music.