A special CBI court on Monday dismissed the plea of YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, facing corruption charges, seeking further relaxation on his bail conditions by allowing him to visit other states.
Jagan, who was arrested in May last year, got bail in the corruption case on September 23 this year, with the court asking the Kadapa MP not to leave the state capital without its permission. However, the court on October 30 had allowed Jagan's plea for relaxing the bail conditions to enable him to visit different parts of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.
Subsequently, Jagan, through his counsel, filed another application in the court on November 6 and submitted that being an MP and leader of a political party, he has to meet leaders of different political parties (in view of the prevailing situation in the state in the wake of announcement to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh) and travel frequently.
In the petition seeking court's permission to travel to different states, Jagan further said that he is required to carry out various activities not only in relation to the party and his constituency, but also in relation to the interests of the general public of Andhra Pradesh.
"It would be absolutely necessary and compelling for the petitioner to travel and visit various places and conduct political activities, including touring other states, in view of the current political crisis engulfing Andhra Pradesh and the upcoming elections in the year 2014," Jagan had submitted.
The application further said that he intends to try to convince all the national political leaders on the stand adopted by him and his political party and bring a consensus against the division of the state (Andhra Pradesh) by unifying the entire state.
"The petitioner would be required to meet leaders spread all over India, and also the MPs of other states, including various leaders of the regional parties of other states in India, like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as pursuant to the Cabinet decision made on October 3 (this year), a Bill is to be considered by the Legislative Assembly as well as the Houses of Parliament," Jagan had submitted in the petition.
Meanwhile, Jagan and others accused appeared before the court after summons were issued against them relating to the CBI charge sheet in the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub (LKH) in the quid-pro-quo investments case.
The court on October 17 had taken cognisance of the charge sheet (filed on September 17) against Jagan and others related to the allotment of 8,844 acres of land to LKH and alleged investments thereof as quid-pro-quo to a tune of Rs 50 crore in Jagati Publications which is owned by Jagan, and issued summons against 14 accused.
While Jagan is named as accused number one, his auditor V Vijay Sai Reddy is also listed as accused, along with Shyam Prasad Reddy, promoter of the Hyderabad-based group of companies called Indu Group, besides some senior IAS officers. Andhra Pradesh Minister for Major Industries J Geetha Reddy and former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, also accused in the charge sheet filed against LKH, did not appear before the court.
Geetha Reddy, through her counsel, informed the court that she is attending a meeting of Group of Ministers in Delhi (on bifurcation issue) and sought exemption to appear before the court in person.
The case pertains to alleged investments made by various private firms and individuals to a tune of several crore rupees in Jagan's businesses, as part of quid-pro-quo arrangement in exchange for alleged favours by the erstwhile YSR Rajasekhara Reddy government.
The CBI has accused Jagan of amassing huge wealth through illegal means by misusing the office of his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, when he was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.
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