Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa until further orders a day after a city court served a non-bailable arrest warrant in a Pocso case.

The single bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit questioned the necessity of arresting him and pointed out that the former chief minister had already given in writing that he would appear before the investigating officer on July 17.

However, the court made it clear that Yediyurappa must appear before the investigating officer on June 17 without fail.

In granting the protection from any coercive action until further orders, the court
noted that Yediyurappa was not a flight risk as he is a former chief minister.

The special court that handles cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act had on Thursday issued the non-bailable arrest warrant based on a petition by the Criminal Investigation Department of the city police.

Yediyurappa is accused of molesting a minor girl who had met him along with her mother in February to seek help in another case in which the child was sexually abused by a relative of her father.

But Yediyurappa, allegedly, took the minor to a room in his house and molested her. When she raised an alarm and barged out of the room, he allegedly offered hush money.

The mother had said she had delayed filing the complaint until March out of fear given the political stature of the accused.

On her complaint, the Sadashivanagar police station had registered a case against Yediyurappa under IPC 354A (sexual harassment) and the Pocso Act.

Yediyurappa has denied the allegations and said he had only tried to help the mother and daughter.