Amid an escalating political row over alleged sexual harassment of several women by JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna who is not in the country, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said Revanna travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport and he did not seek political clearance for the trip.
On Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s demand for revocation of Revanna’s diplomatic passport, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said such action can be taken only on the directions of a court.
Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, is said to have left India on April 27, a day after voting for the Lok Sabha elections took place in his Hassan constituency.
The Janata Dal (Secular) has already suspended the Hassan MP from the party. “No political clearance was either sought from or issued by MEA in respect of the travel of the said MP to Germany,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing while replying to a volley of questions on the MP’s reported travel to Germany.
“Obviously, no visa note was issued either. No visa is required for diplomatic passport holders to travel to Germany. The Ministry has not issued visa note for any other country,” the MEA spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged the prime minister to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Revanna that the JD(S) leader used to travel abroad.
Asked about whether the MEA may consider revocation of his passport in view of the allegations of sexual harassment against him, Jaiswal did not give a direct reply.
“As regards the possible revocation of the passport of any individual, I would refer you to the relevant provisions of the Passport Act 1967. A direction should come from a court for revocation of passport. We are not in receipt of any directions from any court in this regard,” he said.
Jaiswal said Revanna travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport and that he did not seek any political clearance for the trip.
The MEA spokesperson noted that parliamentarians are entitled to have diplomatic passports.
“The matter is being investigated and we will be doing whatever is needed to be done,” he said in reply to another question.
