In a swift development, the Telangana high court on Friday gave exemption to AP chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy from personal appearance in the CBI cases. The court also set aside the CBI court’s direction to Jagan asking him for weekly presence in the court when it hears the CBI cases against him.

Jagan Mohan Reddy filed a petition in the CBI court seeking exemption from weekly appearance in the court after he assumed charge as chief minister in May 2019. He told the CBI court that it was not possible for him to appear in the court with the VIP security around and the responsibilities to discharge as the chief minister of the state.

The CBI argued that Jagan Mohan Reddy is an accused in the cases even before becoming the chief minister and exemption from personal appearance is not required. The CBI wanted the court to continue hearing of the cases on a weekly basis as it was doing so even before Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister.

The court did not give him exemption when he took up historic padayatra before the 2019 general elections. He was made to appear in the court every Friday giving a break to the padayatra. However, after the election, he assumed charge as the chief minister.

As the CBI court did not give him relief from weekly attendance, Jagan Mohan Reddy filed a case in the Telangana high court seeking exemption. The court on Friday set aside the CBI court’s direction and exempted Jagan from regular appearance.

However, the high court asked Jagan Mohan Reddy to attend the court whenever required, giving a big relief.

Even the smartest and shrewdest brains will be surprised at how the arguments go on in the courts sometimes. Maybe, this is why so many courtroom drama films and serials are made in all languages of the world. Coming to AP issues, interesting arguments are going on in the CBI court in the cases relating to the AP CM illegal assets cases.

The latest argument by the CM lawyers would certainly bewilder each and everyone. They were now arguing that the Chief Minister had nothing to do with the irregularities in the Jagathi Publications case. The CM lawyers filed a discharge petition urging the court remove the name of Mr. Jagan Reddy from the accused list. The most shocking part of this was that the CM lawyers had told the court that it was Vijay Sai Reddy who had don all these irregularities.

The interesting part of this was that the court allowed such arguments to continue despite the fact that Vijay Sai Reddy was the beneficiary of the MP post. He was stilling continuing in the Rajya Saba member seat which he got with the blessings of the CM alone. Moreover, Vijay Sai was named and almost functioning as the de facto Chief Minister of the North Andhra region.

Obviously, the CBI lawyers would not have put any objections to such arguments considering the influence that the AP regime had on Delhi. One wonders how long such illogical and incredible arguments would continue in such high profile cases.

AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is Accused No 1 in the Rs. 43,000-cr CBI illegal assets cases. The CBI court has declined his request for exemption from personal appearance at weekly Friday hearings in Hyderabad. Even then, Jagan Reddy has been avoiding personal appearance for nearly three successive Fridays. He also abstained from court appearance today on the pretext of some pressing government engagements.

Analysts say that CM Jagan Reddy is apparently showing the same kind of adamant and indifferent attitude towards the courts as well. Will this hurt him badly because of the emerging political situation at the national level? The Modi government is considering Jagan Reddy Circar as a growing threat to the investment sentiment and ethical governance all over the country. Amid this, the CBI has begun rejecting special privileges that Jagan Reddy is requesting for himself in the CBI court cases.

There are reports now that CBI officials may further intensify their crackdown on Jagan cases because of AP CM’s defiance of the courts. Now the CBI is expected to plead for daily hearings in place of weekly hearings. Then, Jagan Reddy may be able to avoid two or three hearings but he will have to appear before the court afterwards. Interestingly, the usually very bold Jagan Reddy is somehow very shy of personally appearing before the court after he became CM.

AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy did not personally appear before the Hyderabad CBI Court today. This is the first Friday since the court refused to give exemption to Jagan from personal appearance every Friday before the court hearings in the Rs 43,000-cr illegal assets cases. Jagan’s advisors did lot of brainstorming on whether the CM should attend the court or not. Finally, they decided to avoid personal appearance as this would put lot of embarrassment politically to the YCP government in the state and at the national level.

The national media is also waiting for a chance to discredit Jagan Circar after its media gag GO. Moreover, AP Government humiliated the Press Council of India on the issue of the National Press Day celebrations. Harsh media coverage is indeed making CM Jagan Reddy to somehow avoid court appearances in his official capacity as the CM. Today, Jagan pleaded for absence as he is to be available in Andhra in view of the Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s visit to the state. The court has accepted the CM petition.

Legal experts say that Jagan will not be able to go on getting absent permissions every Friday. If he avoids appearance without informing, the court may issue arrest warrant against him. That would be national level humiliation for the YCP. The Supreme Court may not consider Jagan petition for exemption from personal appearance favourably. It all looks Jagan is caught in a checkmate.

The CBI Court admitted AP CM Jaganmohan Reddy’s petition for exemption from personal appearances before the court every week. CM advocate argued that weekly court appearances would prevent Jagan from discharging his duties as Chief Minister efficiently.

However, the CBI Judge asked how it can take up hearing as such a plea by Jagan was already dismissed by the court in the past. The Jagan advocate argued that the circumstances have significantly changed now. Jagan has now become the Chief Minister and he has to address people’s issues on a daily basis.

The CBI has eventually admitted the plea for hearing. In the illegal assets cases, Jagan has been pleading innocence saying that those cases were politically motivated with the then Congress Regime playing a role behind the cases. If exemption is given, an advocate can appear on behalf of Jagan every Friday.