Big blow for Akhilesh Govt
Our Correspondent
In major setback for Akhilesh Yadav government, Supreme Court of India today ordered the registration of a FIR against Uttar Pradesh Minister Gayatri Prajapati for a gang rape and sexual harassment case.
सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने यूपी सरकार में मंत्री गायत्री प्रजापति के खिलाफ FIR दर्ज करने के आदेश दिये
The apex court sought a report from the UP police in within eight weeks.
Prajapati, who is the Transport minister in the state, is a contesting Amethi seat where Congress has also staked its claim.
The court’s order came on a plea by a 35-year-old woman who alleged that an FIR was not being registered on her complaint. She has alleged that she was gang raped by Prajapati and that her daughter too was assaulted sexually.
The victim has also alleged that Prajapati took advantage of her on the pretext of getting her a plum post in the party and repeatedly raped her in the past two years.
This is not the controversial minister’s first run-in with law.
Prajapati is also alleged to have been involved in a large-scale mining scam under his watch.
Earlier this month, the Election Commission had censured the Samajwadi Party minister for the violation of the model code of conduct under a rule which prohibits ‘corrupt practices’ and ‘bribing of voters’.
The EC in January 2017, sent a notice to Prajapati asking him for an explanation as to why should any action not be taken against him in regards to a FIR that was filed earlier by Fatehpur police in Uttar Pradesh. The FIR stated that police had seized a consignment containing 4,452 sarees from a vehicle had Prajapati’s name in the place of the receiver’s name. Even the driver confessed that the sarees were to be delivered to Gayatri Prajapati in he intended to distribute among the voters in Amethi.