New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation the probe into the 2010 rape of a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district allegedly by ruling Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi.


The apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice R.M. Lodha handed over the investigation to CBI after the state government said that it had no objection to handing over to the federal agency the probe into the incident.

With the ordering of the investigation by the CBI, the court stayed further proceedings going on before the trial court in Uttar Pradesh.

The CBI which was initially reluctant to take up the investigation, however, Monday told the court that it was ready to undertake the investigation.

The apex court direction came on the plea of petitioners D. Irudaya Nathan of Chennai and Sanjay Gautam of Delhi.

The petitioners while seeking a CBI probe had sought action against police officials who had allegedly tried to threaten and influence the victim in the local jail.

Even after being raped, the victim spent 33 days in judicial custody after she was accused of committing theft at the legislator’s residence. She was released from the jail Jan 15 after an inquiry ordered by the state government said that the theft charges against her were devoid of evidence.

The victim was arrested Dec 12, 2010, and in her statement she said that she was raped twice -- on Dec 10 and 11 -- by the legislator who is now suspended by his party.

She reiterated her statement before the local Banda court Jan 10, after which the court ordered police to take immediate action against the legislator.

The apex court was earlier told that under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 provides for the procedure to be followed by the juvenile board in case of juvenile in conflict with law. The petition said that the said procedure was not followed in her case.

The girl's woes started after her mother died in last year October when her father sent her to her maternal grandmother's house in Panna district in Madhya Pradesh.

The victim was abducted Oct 7, 2010 and was allegedly sold by her grandparent’s neighbour. Madhya Pradesh police registered a case on a missing complaint given by the girl’s uncle.