Hyderabad
It has been close to four years since 32-year-old Janipalli Srinivas Rao alias Srinivas, a small-time worker in a restaurant, has been languishing in Rajahmundry jail since October 2018 on the charges of making an attempt on the life of YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was then in opposition.
The case, which was investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has been pending trial in the special court for NIA cases in Vijayawada since January 2019.
But for a brief period of two and a half months between May 23 and August 6, 2019, Srinivas has been confined to the barracks of Rajahmundry central jail, waiting for the ordeal to come to an end.
Last week, his 75-year-old mother Savithri wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, requesting that the case be expedited or her son be granted bail. “How long should he suffer in jail? The NIA should prove its charges and get him convicted. But it is not doing anything. As a result, he has to remain in jail without any trial for years together,” she complained in her two-page letter dated July 7.
She said Srinivas had not resorted to the attack intentionally or in a pre-planned manner. “It happened under unexpected circumstances. Though it was a small injury, my son was fixed in an attempt to murder case and the case was entrusted to the NIA as if it was a terror case,” Savithri said in the letter.
{{/usCountry}}She said Srinivas had not resorted to the attack intentionally or in a pre-planned manner. “It happened under unexpected circumstances. Though it was a small injury, my son was fixed in an attempt to murder case and the case was entrusted to the NIA as if it was a terror case,” Savithri said in the letter.
{{/usCountry}}His brother Subba Raju told Hindustan Times that his family had filed several petitions in the court seeking bail or at his release on parole. “We don’t know why the case is being dragged for so long,” he said.
Senior public prosecutor for NIA cases in Vijayawada G Siddi Ramulu, who argued the case on behalf of the agency, said there was no delay on the part of the NIA in the case and the trial got delayed for two years due to Covid-19 pandemic.
“The accused also filed discharge petitions in the court challenging the NIA charge sheet. It is also responsible for the delay,” he said. “The family should have filed an expedition petition in the high court for early completion of the trial in the case,” he suggested.
THE CASE
Srinivas, who is the sixth of the seven siblings of a poor Dalit family at Thanelanka village of Mummidivaram block in Konaseema district, was working as a worker at Fusion Foods restaurant in Visakhapatnam airport, when the incident happened.
Jagan, as the chief minister is popularly called, during his marathon padayatra across the state, was waiting at Visakhapatnam airport on October 25, 2018, to board a flight to Hyderabad to attend a case against him, when Srinivas attacked him with a small knife used in cockfights.
The accused was immediately apprehended by the CISF forces at the airport and sent to judicial remand later in the day.
Jagan, who sustained a bleeding cut on his left upper arm, continued his journey and got admitted in a hospital in Hyderabad. The then Telugu Desam Party government led by N Chandrababu Naidu handed over the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, but Jagan refused to record his statement before the police saying he had no trust in agencies controlled by the state government.
The YSRCP moved the state high court, seeking a probe by a central agency into the case. Based on the court direction, the Centre handed over the case to the NIA on December 31 and the agency registered the case on January 1.
The NIA has slapped Section 3A(1)(a) of the Civil Aviation Act (The Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982) and also under Section 307 of the IPC for attempt to murder.
It filed a charge sheet in the Special Court for NIA cases in Vijayawada on January 23, in which it said Srinivas, while seeking a selfie with Jagan, took out a knife from his trousers right pocket and attacked the YSRC chief with the intention of stabbing him in the neck, but instead inflicted an injury on his upper left arm.
“Srinivas was granted bail on May 23, 2019 and was released on May 25, but with the state high court cancelling the bail, he was back into the jail on August 6. Since then, he has been languishing in jail an under-trial prisoner. The NIA has not been able to prove any of the charges against him,” said senior lawyer Abdus Saleem, who argued the case on behalf of Srinivas said.
Saleem said though the NIA argued that Srinivas had attacked Jagan with an intention to kill him, it could not prove it. “The sections under which he was charged are of very serious nature, but none of them was applicable to him in the present case,” he said.
“As per these sections, the accused should have caused a grievous injury that might have led to the death of the victim. But it was a small cut on Jagan’s upper arm. Secondly, he should have a criminal background belonging to a terrorist organisation. But Srinivas has no such background nor did he belong to any such organisation. Thirdly, he should have made an illegal entry into the airport premises. But he was a worker in the airport canteen with a valid entry pass,” the lawyer said.
He alleged that the NIA authorities had been pressuring Srinivas to accept the crime all these years and the case had been dragging on for years. “It was a very small crime, but Srinivas is being treated as if he is a terrorist or an extremist,” Saleem said.