Andhra HC sends Jaganmohan Reddy to CBI custody for five days

TNN

Hyderabad, 02 Jun 2012: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Saturday granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) five-day custody of Jaganmohan Reddy, the YSR Congress chief and accused number one in the assets case. The CBI custody of Jagan will begin from Sunday morning, Justice Chandra Kumar ruled.

 

The CBI has charged the YSR government (2004-2009) of bestowing undue favours and concessions to private promoter Nimmagadda Prasad in the land allocation for the industrial corridor and port project spread over 28,000 acres in Guntur and Prakasam districts and that in turn, Parsad invested in the companies floated by Jagan.

 

On Saturday, Justice Chandra Kumar heard both the CBI as well as Jagan’s counsel on the issue. While the CBI argued for his custody, Jagan’s lawyers wanted the entire case against him quashed on the grounds that both the case against him and his arrest were illegal. After hearing the CBI and the defence, the judge reserved his orders for noon on Saturday.

 

However, the suspense lingered on with the announcement that the verdict would be pronounced at 2.15 pm. Finally, it was delivered at 3.35 pm. Most likely, the CBI will be granted daytime custody of Jagan, meaning that he would be driven down from Chanchalguda jail every morning to the Dilkusha Guest House for questioning and brought back to the jail for the night.

 

The verdict is a setback for Jagan as the high court in the process dismissed his petition seeking interim bail on the grounds that he needs to campaign for his party, the YSR Congress, for the bypolls scheduled for June 12.

 

While Jagan’s CBI custody ends on June 9, his judicial custody will end on June 11, a day before the bypolls. "In effect, Jagan will not be able to campaign for the bypolls," said sources.

 

Meanwhile, the city police are putting in place security for the route that Jagan would be taken from the jail to the Dilkusha Guest House for the next five days. This is being done to ensure that YSR Congress supporters do not stage demonstrations enroute. Security in the rest of the state too is being beefed up in view of the latest development, police sources said.