Jagan Mohan Reddy's mother to hit YSR Congress's bypoll campaign today

                                                                                              

Hyderabad: YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's mother Vijayamma is set to kick off her party's bypoll campaign in Andhra Pradesh from Wednesday. Vijayamma met Jagan in Chanchalguda jail cell on Tuesday. She and her family have been sitting on dharna accusing the CBI of a witchhunt in order to prevent Jagan from campaigning for the bypolls that will take place on June 12. Vijayamma will begin her campaign from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.

"Jagan has been campaigning extensively and because the Congress fears of being routed in the bypolls, so they have put my son in prison. I will seek the people's mandate. People of Andhra Pradesh have seen how my family has been treated after my husband's death. I have faith in their decision," she told CNN-IBN.
"I had earlier written to Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister and now to the Chief Election Commissioner. I have knocked on all doors for justice for my family and now I am putting this matter before the people's court," she added.
Meanwhile, a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials from Delhi on Tuesday arrived in Hyderabad to approach a local court for questioning Jagan who has been arrested by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case.
The ED wants to question 39-year-old Reddy, who was sent to a jail on Monday after being remanded in two weeks of judicial custody by a CBI court, with regard to financial dealings in various firms run by him and other investments he and his companies allegedly made overseas.
The CBI's first charge sheet in the case was against Reddy and 12 others and had accused him of getting investments worth several crores from various business firms into his businesses as part of quid-pro-quo when his father, late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. The CBI has filed three chargesheets in the case till now.
from IBN Live

Jagan's absence YSRCP's biggest challenge now

                                                                               

The fledgling YSR Congress Party faces its biggest challenge since its formation as it has to factor in the absence of its president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and place full faith and confidence in his mother Ms. Vijayamma in spearheading the party's by-election campaign.

Vijayamma to lead

Although it was fully prepared for the eventuality, the Jagan-centric party was confounded when realisation dawned after the Kadapa MP's arrest that he would no longer be available for electioneering. But, it recovered soon and, in a dramatic manner, declared that his mother would lead the campaign for 12 days.

Political novice

A heavy burden is cast on Ms. Vijayamma, clearly a political novice, to ensure that her party candidates win the elections. But, party leaders are clear that her message would be straight and simple – exposing the ‘conspiracy' behind jailing her son and continued victimisation of late YSR's family.

According to the script prepared by party leaders, she would question CBI's urgency to summon him for interrogation on May 25, when it had not bothered do so for the last 280 days. As she has already stated, she would highlight the hidden agenda behind the move – to keep her son away from the campaign so that the Congress and TDP derive an unfair advantage.

Emotive appeal

She would make an emotive appeal expressing doubts over the accidental death of her husband in the helicopter crash. She may not spare AICC president Sonia Gandhi for trying to target her family.

On the other hand, the Congress leaders are sceptical whether she could step into the shoes of Mr. Jagan and campaign as vigorously. They are also hopeful that the sympathy generated by her dharna outside the Dilkusha Guest House on Sunday might peter out by the time the polling is held on June 12
from Hindu

Jagan files petition challenging his arrest

                                                                                       

Justice B. Chandra Kumar of the A.P. High Court is likely to hear on Wednesday afternoon, the petitions filed by YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy challenging his arrest and his subsequent custody.

The judge wanted to know from Jagan's counsel whether there were any provisions under the law to grant permission to Jagan to carry on his campaign in by-elections. The judge said without going into merits and facts of the case, the question will specifically be dealt by the court on Wednesday. The petition filed by CBI challenging the decision of the special CBI Court in rejecting its plea to grant police custody of Jagan to interrogate him in disproportionate assets case was also to be tagged along with this petition. The special court of the CBI did not grant custody of Jagan to CBI. It also did not entertain the request of the MP from Kadapa to be set free to facilitate electioneering. Meanwhile, the judge reserved orders in a petition filed by Jagathi Publications and Vijaya Sai Reddy challenging the action of the special court in taking cognizance of the charge-sheet filed by CBI against them. They said that incomplete charge-sheet cannot be entertained by the special court and that too when the investigation was not complete.

from hindu

Noose tightens around Jaganmohan Reddy

                                                                               

On a day when there was a flurry of activity in the courts, the legal problems of YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy compounded on Tuesday when the CBI court asked him to appear before it on June 11, the day on which his current judicial remand is set to end.

After taking cognizance of the second charge-sheet filed by the CBI against Jagan and others in the disproportionate assets case, the Principal Special Court for CBI Cases directed prison authorities to produce Jagan before it on a prisoner transit (PT) warrant on June 11.

Vijay Sai summoned

Also, it summoned his auditor V. Vijay Sai Reddy and a representative of Jagathi Publications to appear in court on the same day.

The CBI had filed the second charge-sheet on April 23 naming Jagan, V. Vijay Sai Reddy and Jagathi Publications as the three accused in that order.

Taking the charge-sheet into cognizance on Tuesday, the court gave separate number for the case (CC 9/2012).

Cognizance of the charge-sheet paves way for the next procedure of questioning of the accused by the court and framing of charges to facilitate commencement of trial. The court has already directed the accused in the first charge-sheet to appear before it on June 11.

Meanwhile, the investigating officer of the case and CBI SP, H. Venkatesh, re-submitted the third charge-sheet in the case to the court on Tuesday after carrying out corrections.

The court had returned the charge-sheet to CBI earlier this month citing some procedural shortcomings and other details.

The court has also written to the Ministry of Home Affairs informing it about the arrest and judicial remand of Jagan. The YSR Congress president filed a petition in the High Court challenging his arrest and custody while, separately, he urged the special court, through another petition, to grant him bail as he was spearheading the campaign for his candidates contesting by-elections to 18 Assembly constituencies and Nellore Lok Sabha seat.

Allegations

Jagan submitted to the court that the allegations levelled against him in the first charge-sheet, based on which he was arrested, were false and incorrect.

The grounds for his arrest that he would misuse his status as MP to influence witnesses and tamper with the evidence were also wrong. Admitting the petition, the court directed the CBI to file its counter and posted the case for hearing on May 31.

 from Hindi

HC to examine Jagan issue today

                                                                                 
Hyderabad:The High Court will examine on Wednesday whether there is any provision in law to permit Kadapa MP and YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is in judicial remand, to campaign for his party candidates for the June 12 byelections.

Justice B Chandra Kumar asked the counsels of the CBI and Jagan Mohan Reddy to come back at 2.15 pm on Wednesday and assist the court hear the issue without going into the merits and facts of the case concerned.

The lower court had on Monday remanded Jagan, accused number one in the alleged illegal assets case, in judicial custody till June 11 to prevent him from influencing the witnesses and tamper with evidence. Following this both the CBI and Jagan on Tuesday approached the vacation bench of the High Court with their respective petitions _ the CBI seeking his custody and Jagan challenging the arrest and remand.

Jagan said the CBI had arrested him on May 27 and produced him in the CBI court on the following day. The court, while remanding him in judicial custody, said that he, being an MP and president of a political party, was in a position to influence witnesses and tamper with evidence. It was not at all proper for the CBI court to remand him on the above grounds, he said. Already, the CBI had filed three chargesheets and was in possession of all the evidences. There was therefore no scope for tampering with evidence, he contended.

Saying that the CBI arrested him on Sunday with mala fide intentions, Jagan requested the High Court to quash the lower court’s order of remand, and release him on bail immediately.

As counsels of both the parties requested the judge to hear their cases on Wednesday, justice Chandra Kumar reserved his orders on the petitions of Jagathi Publications and V Vijaya Sai Reddy challenging the order of the court taking cognizance of the first chargesheet, and sought to know whether there was any provision in the law to permit him to campaign in the byelections.

“It is a democratic country and elections are part of it. In a democracy, we cannot curtail any party leader or candidate to campaign in election. Without looking into facts or merits of the case or allegations and counter allegations, I will hear both the parties on this limited issue tomorrow,” he said.

The judge asked both the counsels to explain whether the law permits the court to grant police custody of an accused beyond the stipulated period of 14 days. The CrPC mandates the investigation agency to seek police custody of an accused in the first 14-day remand period. If the period elapses,� the agency cannot move an application for police custody of an accused.

Earlier, Sushil Kumar, appearing for Jagathi Publications and Vijay Sai Reddy, said Section 173 of CrPC does not empower a trial court� to take cognizance of an ‘incomplete’ chargesheet filed without completing investigation.

from ibn live