Andhra Pradesh HC-Jagan Reddy hit and run protection
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Andhra Pradesh HC-Jagan Reddy hit and run protection
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday restrained the state police from arresting or taking any coercive action against former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Justice K Sreenivasa Reddy also extended the same relief to three other YSRCP leaders named in the first information report (FIR) registered by Guntur police on June 22. A party supporter, C Singayya, allegedly fell under the wheels of a vehicle in which Jagan travelled and succumbed to his injuries. The incident occurred when Jagan’s convoy was heading toward Rentapalla village in Palnadu district. Jagan and others have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Justice K Sreenivasa Reddy also extended the same relief to three other YSRCP leaders named in the first information report (FIR) registered by Guntur police on June 22, four days after a party supporter, C Singayya, allegedly fell under the wheels of a vehicle in which Jagan travelled and succumbed to his injuries. The incident occurred when Jagan’s convoy was heading toward Rentapalla village in Palnadu district.
The YSRCP chief and others have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The court questioned the police’s decision to charge Jagan and others travelling in the vehicle as prime accused, asking why only the driver was not being prosecuted. “I am only asking if common sense dictates that only the driver of the car that caused the accident is prosecuted, or if everyone else in the car should be prosecuted too,” the judge remarked.
The court further observed that accidents can occur even when all security measures are in place, citing the example of stampede during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in the early hours on January 29, which claimed at least 30 lives.
Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas, appearing for the state, however, urged the court not to view the incident in isolation. He alleged that after the accident, instead of stopping the rally and calling for help, Jagan and others continued with the rally, allegedly leaving the deceased by the roadside. This conduct, the law officer argued, implicated not just the driver but all the occupants of the vehicle.
The AG also pointed out that permission had been granted for only three vehicles and a limited number of participants, but the rally ended up involving “hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people.”
The court acknowledged the state’s concerns but said it was not uncommon for mishaps to happen “even when precautions are taken”.
Posting the matter for July 1, the court granted the state time to submit material proving that Jagan had knowledge of, or intended to cause the death, which is necessary to sustain the charge under Section 105 of BNS.
Jagan moved the high court on June 25, three days after the case was registered, seeking the FIR be quashed.
On Friday, Jagan’s counsel P Sudhakar Reddy argued that the former CM was merely a passenger in the car and had no role in the incident. The counsel pointed out that initially the police had claimed that the case involved the offence of rash and negligent driving under Section 106 of BNS, but later booked the YSRCP leaders under more stringent Section 105.
The lawyer also objected to the allegations against Jagan made by the AG in the court and said there could be nothing worse than accusing a politician of having “caused the death of his own party supporter.”