Former Vemulawada MLA and BRS leader Chennamaneni Ramesh has suffered a setback in the Telangana High Court on Monday. The high court has dismissed his petition in the citizenship case and ruled that he is a German citizen. It has been said that he won as an MLA while being a citizen of that country.
He has been fined Rs. 30 lakh. The high court has ordered that Rs. 25 lakh be paid to the current government whip and Vemulawada MLA Adi Srinivas and Rs. 5 lakh to the Legal Services Authority. The High Court has expressed deep anger for misleading the court.
The Chennamaneni Ramesh case was heard in the High Court for a long time for ten and a half years. The court was incensed that false information was given to the court and fake documents were submitted during the hearing.Ramesh’s lawyer has requested that the order be suspended for a month.
Meanwhile, in the wake of today’s verdict, the judge raised some other issues. The High Court questioned on which passport Ramesh was traveling for so many years. His lawyer told the court that he traveled on a German passport. The lawyer said that he still has a German passport. When the court asked if he has an Indian passport, his lawyer said that he does not.
Chennamaneni family has been dominating Rajanna Siricilla district politics for several decades. Ramesh entered direct politics in 2009 as the successor of his father Rajeshwar Rao, who has been winning consecutive elections. In the 2009 general elections, he contested as a TDP candidate from Vemulawada and was opposed by Srinivas. Srinivas, who lost by a small margin, approached the High Court claiming that Rameshbabu’s election was invalid and that he had obtained citizenship with false certificates.
When Rameshbabu contested as a BRS candidate in the by-elections held in June 2010, Srinivas approached the Election Commission. Then the Election Commission stopped the schedule. When the BRS party approached the High Court, it said that elections should be held within six months.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s verdict. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the High Court’s decision in the by-elections has become a topic of discussion. Since then, Srinivas has been fighting against Ramesh Babu’s citizenship.
In 2013, the High Court revoked Ramesh Babu’s citizenship and membership of the Legislative Assembly. Ramesh Babu approached the Supreme Court and got a stay. Ramesh Babu won again in the 2014 elections. The Union Home Ministry revoked Ramesh Babu’s citizenship in 2017 on the orders of the Supreme Court. The Home Ministry again approached the High Court after stating that it could approach the High Court.