No relief to Gayatri Prajapati, SC refuses to put stay at NBW

Gayatri, who is the Transport Minister in Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s cabinet, has been absconding since the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 27. Currently, he is the sitting MLA from Amethi constituency of the state

Arnima Dwivedi
Published on: 6 March 2017 6:38 AM GMT
No relief to Gayatri Prajapati, SC refuses to put stay at NBW
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No relief to Gayatri Prajapati, SC refuses to put stay at NBW

New Delhi: There seems no end to the problems of absconding Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati as the Supreme Court refused to put stay on the orders of arresting him. The apex court, on Monday, said that its concern lies with lodging the FIR against the minister as the orders of arrest were not given by the SC. The SC asked Prajapati to approach the concerned court regarding the matter.

The verdict came on a plea submitted to the Supreme Court against Prajapati’s arrest and was heard by the same on Monday.

It could be mentioned that the gangrape accused Samajwadi Party minister is at large since the special judge of POSCO court Laxmi Kant Rathore issued the non-bailable warrant against him in connection with the case.The police had moved the court seeking NBW against the tainted UP cabinet minister.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Naik, also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asking why Gayatri Prajapati is still not removed from the ministerial post.

His passport has also been revoked for four weeks, after the UP police wrote a letter to Passport department urging to suspend his passport, over suspicion that he may try to flee the nation. Passport of the UP minister has already been impounded, said ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary.

The case:

  • Gayatri, who is the Transport Minister in Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s cabinet, has been absconding since the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 27. Currently, he is the sitting MLA from Amethi constituency of the state.
  • A lookout notice has been issued and the SSB has also been alerted to keep a close watch on the Indo-Nepal border.
  • The intelligence agencies have been alerted while the airports have been put on high alert.
  • A case was filed against the tainted SP minister and six others, under the relevant sections of gangrape and POCSO Act after the Supreme Court order.
  • FIRs against all the accused had been lodged at Gautampalli Kotwali under sections 376D (gangrape), 376, 511,504, 506 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
  • Those named in the FIR included: Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, Ashok Tiwari, Pintoo Singh, Vikas Verma, Chandrapal, Rupesh and Ashish Shukla.
  • The decision against the UP transport minister came on a plea filed by a woman of Chitrakoot district of the state, accusing Prajapati of raping her several times during past two years.
  • The woman had stated that the UP minister had promised to appoint her on senior post in the party. The woman had also alleged that Prajapati sexually harassed her daughter.
  • According to the 35-year-old victim, the FIR was not lodged by the UP police against the minister, despite her several attempts.
  • The Apex Court had also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a report of the entire matter within eight weeks.
  • The gangrape victim had on Friday alleged to have received death threats from Prajapati and his goons.
  • Earlier on February 28, a police team, led by Circle Officer Amita Singh, raided Gayatri’s residence to arrest him for his alleged involvement in the gangrape case, but he was not present there.

Arnima Dwivedi

Arnima Dwivedi

A journalist, presently working as a sub-editor with newstrack.com. I love exploring new genres of humans and humanity.

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