In a relief to Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kesireddy, former IT advisor to the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh, the state High Court has declared his arrest illegal in the AP liquor transportation case.
Justice G. Mahesh Kumar of the High Court also granted similar relief to former Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation Limited (APBCL) Managing Director D. Vasudeva Reddy, holding that his arrest in the case was also illegal.
The judge observed that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh police, which is probing the case, had failed to follow the procedure prescribed by law while arresting the two accused.
However, the High Court made it clear that its order declaring the arrests illegal should not be construed as an opinion on the allegations against the two accused or on the merits of the liquor case.
The court also did not stop the investigation and permitted the SIT to continue its probe.
It directed both petitioners to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the investigating officer whenever summoned.
Raj Kesireddy and Vasudeva Reddy had approached the High Court challenging the manner in which they were arrested and produced before the Vijayawada ACB Court. They also challenged the remand orders issued by the ACB Court on July 20.
The petitioners argued that the SIT officials had not followed the normal procedure required for their arrest and had instead produced them before the trial court through a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant.
They contended that since the statutory procedure required for a lawful arrest had not been followed, their production before the trial court through a PT warrant could not be treated as a valid arrest.
The two accused had earlier also approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail.
After examining the arguments of the petitioners and the records placed before it by the investigating agency, Justice G. Mahesh Kumar concluded that the SIT had not followed the procedure prescribed under law while carrying out the arrests.
Consequently, the court declared the arrests of Raj Kesireddy and Vasudeva Reddy illegal.
At the same time, the court clarified that the order did not amount to a finding that the allegations in the liquor case were false or that the accused had been exonerated.
The SIT has been allowed to continue its investigation, while both petitioners have been directed to cooperate with the investigating officer and appear whenever required.
