Centre yet to respond to letter demanding cancellation of Prajwal Revanna’s diplomatic passport: Karnataka HM G Parameshwara

Parameshwara’s statement came after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar recently claimed that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) received the Karnataka government letter only on May 21. The Union minister said a show-cause notice has been served to the MP asking him to explain why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled.

Speaking to media persons, Parameshwara said, “As far as I know, we have not got any information or letter so far (from the Centre). I have seen that the External Affairs Minister has told the media that they are taking action and in a couple of days they will cancel it (diplomatic passport), but we have not got any written communication on this.”

He also asked what the Centre was doing after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1 seeking the cancellation of the MP’s diplomatic passport. “It was not just the CM, even the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state government has also written such letters,” he added.

“The external affairs minister is saying that the MEA received the letter only on May 21 but what about the letters sent by the SIT and the CM to the prime minister? A chief minister’s letter must get its due respect and that has not happened. Where did this letter go? It is good they are initiating action but it is wrong to say that the state has sent a letter only now,” Parameshwara further said.

Meanwhile, reacting to former chief minister and JD(S) MLA H D Kumaraswamy’s demand to punish those who leaked and circulated the alleged sexual abuse videos, Parameshwara said that the police were looking into it. “The SIT has been formed to investigate Prajwal’s role and also people who are involved in distributing pen drives, and making any statements at this point will harm the probe,” he added.