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Andhra liquor case: SC grants relief to YSRCP MP
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday granted relief to YSR Congress party’s parliamentarian P Mithun Reddy in connection with the Andhra Pradesh liquor case.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday granted relief to YSR Congress party’s parliamentarian P Mithun Reddy in connection with the Andhra Pradesh liquor case, setting aside the April 3 order of the state high court (HC) that had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea, officials privy to the matter said.
Hearing Reddy’s petition challenging HC’s verdict, Justice J B Pardiwala directed the HC to decide on the bail plea within four weeks and restricted the officials of special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged liquor case from arresting him till his bail petition is disposed of.
On April 3, the HC dismissed Reddy’s bail plea stating that when he filed the petition, he had not been named as an accused by the SIT.
The member of parliament (MP), who represents Rajampet constituency, then moved the SC on April 5.
On April 23,the SIT submitted a memo in the special court for Anti-Corruption Bureau cases in Vijayawada and named Reddy as an accused in the case.
In light of this development, the SC on Tuesday said that the HC should now re-examine the matter based on its merits. The judge observed that the “reputation and dignity of a sitting MP should also be taken into consideration in such cases”. Justice Pardiwala, however, withdrew the interim protection previously granted to Mithun Reddy.
In a related development, the SIT on Tuesday arrested Govindappa Balaji, full-time director of Bharati Cements, who was also named as an accused in the liquor case.
Balaji, who had been absconding for the last three weeks, failed to turn up before the investigating officer for questioning on Sunday, despite notices from the SIT on Saturday, an SIT official privy to the case said.
After receiving a tip-off, the SIT tracked him and took him into custody from Mysuru, the official said, adding that he is being shifted to Vijayawada, where he will be questioned before being produced in the court for judicial remand.
Govindappa, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s former secretary and Jagan’s officer on special duty P Krishna Mohan Reddy were denied anticipatory bail from the HC and SC in the case last month.
