HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s counsel was questioned by CBI special court judge B Madhusudhan Rao, “Why is Jagan not present at the hearing on the illegal assets case against him?”
To the question posed by the CBI court, the counsel for Jagan said they had filed a memo seeking exemption from Jagan’s appearance. The judge said that as per the bail conditions, Jagan should attend the court for every hearing, but he is seeking an excuse on one or other pretext. The counsel said that when the bail was given, the situation was totally different. At that time, he was only an MLA or MP, but now he is the Chief Minister of AP.
He further said that in those days, the hearing was taking place once a month or weekly, but now hearing is going on five days a week. The CBI court had quashed the petition seeking to dispense with the presence of Jagan, the same was challenged in the High Court. The High court suggested informing the lower court that the case was pending in the High Court, the counsel said. The court ordered the petitioner’s counsel to inform the same by filing a memo.
IAS officer’s plea
Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan on Tuesday heard the plea of AP cadre IAS Officer D Muralidhar Reddy, one of the accused in Jagan’s assets case. Counsel for the petitioner Sivaraju Srinivas informed the court that with regards to lands allotted to Lepakshi Knowledge Hub, the CBI registering a case and proceeding to prosecution without prior sanction from the state government is not fair. Under Section 197 of the CrPC, sanction from the government is compulsory, but the government refused the same, but CBI never challenged the decision in any court, he said. The case was adjourned to Wednesday for CBI’s arguments.
