Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has once again decided not to attend the Dharmabad court in Maharashtra on October 15 in connection with the 2010 Babli agitation case.
Naidu took this decision after discussing with his senior party colleagues and consulting his legal experts on Saturday.
In the past, too, he did not attend the court and tried to file a petition seeking recall of his arrest warrant, but the court rejected it and made it clear that Naidu had no option but to come to the court, if he wanted the case to proceed further.
Naidu, who is under compulsion to attend the Maharashra court this time, once again sought suggestions from his party leaders.
Some of them suggested that he should go in procession with thousands of TDP workers and get the bail from the court, as it would fetch a lot of mileage to the party.
But the legal experts told Naidu that once he surrenders before the court, it would mean he was admitting his guilt in the case.
There is also a possibility of the court order his arrest even for a brief period, which is what the BJP leadership wants. Since he feels he is not guilty, he should continue to make efforts to get the case quashed.
So, the legal advisors suggested to Naidu that he should file another recall petition with all valid reasons, seeking withdrawal of arrest warrant issued to him by the court. If the court does not agree, he should explore the option of moving the high court.
Originally, there were reports that Naidu was considering attending the Dharambad court in the Babli case.
He thought he would get a lot of political mileage if he attended the court since the people would show a lot of sympathy towards him.
He told the party colleagues that he had not committed any grave offence except for agitating for the people of Telangana. Moreover, it would be his duty to respect the judiciary.
