The Hindu : Front Page : Apex court asks Gouru to surrender

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Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006
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Apex court asks Gouru to surrender

J. Venkatesan

Suspension of the operation of sentence declined on oral mention by counsel

Gouru Venkat Reddy

NEW DELHI: As a fallout of last week's judgment quashing the order passed by former Andhra Pradesh Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde granting remission of sentence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Congress leader Gouru Venkat Reddy to immediately surrender before the police to serve the remaining sentence period.

A Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia declined to suspend the operation of the sentence on an oral `mention' made by senior counsel Altaf Ahmed on behalf of Venkat Reddy.

Counsel while pleading for suspending the sentence sought some time for Venkat Reddy to surrender. The court had not specified any time limit for the Governor to dispose of the fresh petition seeking pardon and remission of sentence, he said, and requested the Bench to fix a timeframe within which the petition should be disposed of.

The Bench told counsel: "Once the Governor's order is set aside you (Venkat Reddy) have to surrender. We cannot fix any time limit for the Governor."

Awaiting instructions

According to a report from Kurnool, the police were ready for shifting Venkata Reddy to prison following the Supreme Court's directive. Superintendent of Police B. Malla Reddy said the police were waiting for instructions from the Government to arrest or escort him to jail.

Meanwhile, Venkat Reddy was at his native village Brahmanakotkur, 20 km from Kurnool, awaiting action by the authorities concerned.

He said lawyers approached the court for a clarification on his sentence as there was no specific direction to arrest him.

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