EAM S Jaishankar: Karnataka’s plea to cancel Prajwal Revanna’s passport received only on May 21 | News from India

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said the MEA received a request from Karnataka for cancellation of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna’s passport only on May 21 and the ministry immediately acted on it.

A show cause notice has been served on the suspended MP seeking to know why his diplomatic passport should not be canceled in light of the sexual abuse allegations against him. Government sources said this was in line with Passport Act regulations regarding passport cancellation.

Government sources had indicated on Thursday that the request was being processed. The notice was sent to Revanna’s official email address, which is believed to be in Germany. “Seizure of a passport is governed by a law called the Passport Act. To do this, we need an application from a court of law or police. The MEA has only received this application from Karnataka than on May 21,” Jaishankar told news agency ANI.

“We acted immediately. On May 23… we have to follow a certain procedure and the procedure is launched,” added the minister.

Sources said the MEA was undertaking proceedings to cancel his diplomatic passport under the provisions of the Passport Act, 1967. If the passport is cancelled, Revanna’s stay abroad will be illegal and he could face legal action by the authorities of the country in which he is staying, a person familiar with the matter said.

On Wednesday, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wrote a second letter to the Prime Minister urging him to take “prompt and necessary” steps to cancel Prajwal’s diplomatic passport.

The SIT set up by the Karnataka government to probe the sexual abuse allegations against Revanna has written to the MEA to cancel his diplomatic passport after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a local court.