A CBI court in Hyderabad has rejected his petition seeking exemption from personal appearances during hearings in cases filed by CBI against him. Dismissing Jagan’s plea, principal special judge BR Madhusudan Rao agreed with the argument of CBI counsel K Surender who said the trial court and the high court had already dismissed such pleas earlier and hence Jagan should have approached the SC. Jagan was urging the court to exempt him from appearing every week in the cases and sought permission to allow his lawyer to represent him.
The judge also cited an observation made by the apex court which described the case as one that was dealing with a grave economic offence. The HC while rejecting the plea earlier gave the liberty to Jagan asking him to seek separate permission whenever he finds it difficult to appear before the court. CBI court refused to sail with the argument of Jagan’s counsel who said his current status as CM would incur a huge burden on the exchequer. Jagan also sought exemption on the grounds that as CM he has several responsibilities and appearing personally in court and travelling back and forth from Amaravati would interfere with his duty. Besides, there would be expenditure on security protocol costs, his counsel added.
CBI court rejects AP CM Reddy’s petition for exemption over personal appearance
