The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A setback to Telugu Desam Party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 23, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A setback to Telugu Desam Party

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 22. The life imprisonment handed out by a City Criminal Court to the former Housing Minister, P. Ramasubba Reddy, in a twin murder case comes as a rude jolt to the Telugu Desam Party which has been defending him all through.

Among the different reasons it gave for its stout defence of Mr. Reddy was that the prima facie case against him was very weak. Based on this premise, the then TDP Government decided to drop Mr. Ramasubba Reddy's name from the list of accused, an action that was upheld by the High Court only to be reversed later by the Supreme Court.

In the face of strident demands by the Opposition for the Minister's ouster, the TDP brazened it out. While reiterating the TDP's commitment to fighting criminalisation in politics, the then Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, had described the murder charges against Mr. Reddy as `political' since they were framed by the then Congress Government 12 years ago when he was not even an MLA.

Clear distinction

He even made a clear distinction between the TDP's summary expulsion of former Minister, C. Krishna Yadav, in the fake stamps scam and its support to Mr. Reddy on the ground that a prima facie case was established against the MLA in the form of a taped conversation with the prime accused, Abdul Kareem Telgi.

Krishna Yadav had himself questioned the TDP's double standards in continuing Kodela Sivaprasada Rao and Ramasubba Reddy, both facing criminal cases, while ousting him from the party. Now, while Mr. Ramasubba Reddy stands convicted, Mr. Krishna Yadav is still facing trial.

The TDP refused to budge even when a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice K. C. Bhanu expressed "dismay" at Mr. Reddy's continuance in the Cabinet while facing charges of murder.

Observations

"It has come to our notice that the Minister continues to be a member of the State Cabinet though he has been charged with a case of murder. There is no provision in the Representation of the People's Act or in the Constitution which disqualifies him from being a Minister. But at the same time, such instances raise questions with regard to the working of democracy and democratic institutions ... .", the Judges had remarked.

The Bench made these observations while closing a contempt case against the then APCC president, M. Satyanarayana Rao, for his remarks over transfer of the criminal case from Mahabubnagar to Hyderabad "to benefit the Minister." In fact, the case was transferred at the request of the local Congress leader of Cuddapah district.

Mr. Ramsubba Reddy is the nephew of a former Minister, P. Siva Reddy, who was brutally murdered in the city. But, all the Congressmen accused of murdering Siva Reddy were acquitted by the High Court.

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