He has spent lakhs of rupees of public money for his security and other protocol requirements in view of his position, he argued
Amaravati: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Jagan Mohan Reddy is set to appear in the special court of CBI in Hyderabad on Friday to face the ongoing trial for disproportionate assets cases against him.
On January 3 the special court judge directed Jagan to appear in person for the trial, rejecting the latter’s plea for an exemption.
This will be Reddy’s first appearance in court for the trial after he took a charge as Chief Minister on May 30, 2019. Even prior to that, he did not appear in person for the trial from many months, as he was busy campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.
The YSR Congress supremo has been facing trial wherein he was charge-sheeted in at least 11 cases as the main accused in alleged quid pro quo deals.
Reddy is currently out on bail, having spent time in jail as an “un-convicted criminal prisoner” in the Chanchalguda Central Prison from May 2012 to September 2013.
After becoming Chief Minister, Reddy filed a petition in the special court of CBI seeking an exemption from personal appearance as he would be busy with an official responsibility.
He has spent lakhs of rupees of public money for his security and other protocol requirements in view of his position, he argued
However, On November 1, the court rejected Reddy’s plea and directed that he appear for trial every Friday. Though he did not file an appeal in the High Court against the trial court order, Jagan had not been attending the trial proceedings by quoting his official engagements as the reason for his absence.
The special court judge had on January 3 directed that Jagan attend the proceedings on January 10.
According to sources, the CM Reddy would return to Amaravati after attending court proceedings on Friday. He would go to Hyderabad again on Saturday afternoon for an overnight stay and meet his two daughters for their foreign destinations on Sunday.
On Monday, he is expected to have a formal meeting with his Telangana equivalent K Chandrasekhar Rao to discuss a host of issues related to the two Telugu states, the sources said.
On the other hand, the opposition Telugu Desam Party said public money should not be spent on Jagan’s court appearance as he faced trial in his private capacity.
“The charge-sheets were filed against Jagan Reddy in his private capacity. He was not CM at that time. So, he should spend from his personal expenditure for court appearances,” politburo of TDP Varla Ramaiah said.
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