Deputy Speaker of AP Assembly K Raghuramakrishnam Rao, who has been fighting in the courts seeking early disposal of cases against former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and also cancellation of his bail, has received a setback in the Apex Court.
When his petition came up for hearing, the Supreme Court rejected a plea made by Raghurama Raju. With this, there is suspense as to what Raghurama will do next. Raghurama filed this petition objecting to the lengthy investigation being conducted in disproportionate assets cases against Jaganmohan Reddy.
It has been over a decade since the CBI registered a case of disproportionate assets against Jagan. However, the charge sheets have still not been filed in these cases and the investigation has not been completed. In the meantime, the Hyderabad CBI court and the Telangana High Court are throwing up their hands, unable to resolve the dozens of discharge petitions that have been coming in.
Raghurama’s lawyers have recently brought to the attention of the Supreme Court that five CBI court judges have been transferred and left while they were preparing to give verdicts on the discharge petitions. They said that the case is being investigated under the supervision of the High Court as per the Supreme Court’s orders, but there is no result.
Looking at all this, it seems that the CBI is in cahoots with Jagan, so Raghurama’s lawyers have requested the Supreme Court to transfer the Jagan disproportionate assets case from Telangana to another state. However, the bench of Justice B.V. Nagaratna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who are hearing this petition in the Supreme Court, did not agree to this.
They suggested that the trial of these cases, which are currently being monitored by the Telangana High Court, should be allowed to take place there. With this, Raghurama’s lawyers backed down. They told the Supreme Court that they want someone to investigate the Jagan disproportionate assets case and give a verdict.
However, they sought a week’s time to respond on behalf of their client Raghurama. In addition, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing to next Monday after the CBI said that Additional Solicitor General Thackeray, who had previously argued on their behalf, was in Mumbai and would arrive next week.