The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday refused to pass any orders to the state government to provide security cover to YSR Congress party general secretary (legal) and former additional advocate general (AAG) Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy.
After hearing the arguments on a petition filed by Ponnavolu requesting that he be continued security with 2+2 gunmen allotted to him during the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the past, high court judge B V L N Chakravarthy reserved his verdict in August and delivered its judgement on Monday.
The high court observed that government security cover cannot be given to a person not holding either a statutory or constitutional position.
Ponnavolu, however, contended that his name was there in the ‘Red Book’ as stated by TDP leaders in public meetings and he is facing life threat.
However, the Security Review Committee (SRC) submitted a report that there is no threat perception to Sudhakar Reddy and continuation of 2+2 gunmen not necessary.
As the SRC did not recommend for security cover, Justice Chakravarthy said that the plea for continuation of security cover cannot be granted.
However, the high court told the state government to inform the petitioner for making alternative arrangements, like arranging security on payment.
The high court further said that the petitioner can file a fresh petition to challenge the decision of SRC.
