For the first time after taking over as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday made a personal appearance before a special court for Central Bureau of Investigation cases in Hyderabad in connection with the alleged quid pro quo cases.
Huge security arrangements have been made by the Telangana police in and around the Nampally criminal court complex, as Jagan who arrived in Hyderabad by a special flight drove straightaway to the court to attend the proceedings.
He would returning to Vijayawada by afternoon, without even going to his house.
Apart from Jagan, YSRC general secretary and parliamentary party leader V Vijay Sai Reddy, who is an accused No. 2 in the case, also attended the court.
In a related case, YSRC MLA from Srikakulam and former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and a few IAS officers also attended the court in connection with the same case.
Though Jagan had been attending the CBI court proceedings regularly in the past, it has become difficult for him after he became the chief minister.
He sought an exemption from personal appearances in the court on the ground that he had the constitutional responsibility to rule the state and also due to huge burden on the state exchequer for making security arrangements for him.
However, the CBI strongly opposed the same stating that Jagan could influence the witnesses, if he was given the personal exemption. The CBI court agreed with this argument and refused to grant exemptions.
Subsequently, Jagan had been avoiding attending the court personally every Friday by filing a petition under Section 317 of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking exemption from personal appearances, stating that he was not able to attend the court due to compelling reasons.
On January 3, the CBI court, however, refused to entertain such petitions by Jagan hereafter and said he won’t get personal exemptions hereafter and that he should attend the court on January 10.
So, the chief minister had no option but to come to the court.
