Dharmabad Court refuses to exempt Naidu from attendance

A local court in Maharashtra's Dharmabad on Friday refused to grant an exemption to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and 13 others from appearing before it while dealing with a non-bailable warrant issued on them for violating orders during the agitation against the Babli barrage, ten years ago.

The court, while granting bail to three Telangana leaders that attended court on Friday, refused to take up the 'recall' petition filed by lawyers on behalf of the Chief Minister and 12 others.

NR Ghajbiye, Judicial First-Class Magistrate, Dharmabad of Nanded district in Maharashtra had ordered the police to arrest the TDP leaders including Naidu and present them on September 21.

However, Naidu had sent his lawyers Mr Subba Rao and Mr Hanumantha Rao to file a petition to recall the Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued against him by the court. According to sources, the Magistrate refused to accept the argument that Naidu being a chief minister has prior commitments and could not attend the court. The Magistrate very clearly said that no one is above the law and everyone that received the court notices must attend the court on 15 October. Three Telangana politicians Prakash Goud, Gangula Kamalakar and Ratnam attended the court on Friday and got bail.

Naidu will leave for America on Saturday to deliver a keynote address at a convention on “Financing Sustainable Agriculture – Global challenges and opportunities” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. It may be mentioned that the ruling TDP has even expressed apprehension about the timing of the NBW to Naidu. Few even said that the ruling BJP at the centre was unhappy over Naidu addressing the UN.

"BJP president Amit Shah claimed that 25 summons were issued and I had wilfully skipped. I verified with my office. Not even a single summon was received", Naidu said in the Assembly suspecting a plot by the BJP and TRS to corner him with the Telangana assembly elections around the corner. Reaction from the CMO is awaited.