Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday declined to transfer rebel YSRCP MP K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju’s petitions for cancellation of bail given to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy in the quid pro quo case to any other court from the current CBI court.
Justice K Lakshman dismissed Raju’s petition seeking transfer of his pleas from the CBI court headed by the principal special judge to any other court.
He had also sought a stay on pronouncement of orders by the CBI court on his two petitions, which is scheduled on Wednesday.
The judge while dismissing Raju’s plea, observed that there should be reasonable grounds for seeking transfer of a case from one court to the other. The court felt that the petitioner is seeking the transfer on imaginary grounds.
Raju while seeking the transfer of petitions had expressed his apprehensions citing the permission given by the trial court to Vijaya Sai Reddy to undertake foreign tours.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed Raju’s petition.
With the Telangana High Court dismissing Raju’s plea, the CBI court is likely to pronounce its order on his petitions which was reserved on August 25.
The Narsapur MP has sought cancellation of the bail granted to Jagan in a disproportionate assets case, also called the quid pro quo case, registered by the CBI against him.
Raju filed the petition in April this year seeking cancellation of Jagan’s bail on the ground of alleged violation of bail conditions.
Raju voiced the apprehension that Jagan Mohan Reddy may try to influence the witnesses in the case. He also cited Jagan’s non-appearance before the trial court and seeking exemptions as violation of bail conditions.
Jagan, who became chief minister in May 2019, has been seeking exemptions from weekly court appearances citing his constitutional duties as the chief minister.
The allegations against Jagan relate to the period 2004-2009, when his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probed the allegations that Jagan Mohan Reddy, in criminal conspiracy with others, received bribes from various persons/companies in the guise of investments in his group companies as ‘quid pro quo’ for undue favours granted to them by the then Andhra Pradesh government.
Jagan Mohan Reddy was arrested in May 2012 in the DA case when he was an MP. In 2013, the special CBI court had granted conditional bail to Jagan, after he spent 16 months in jail.