SC allows Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw plea against HC in Amravati land scam case

The state government told a bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari that it will approach the high court

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw its petition against the stay imposed by the high court in the probe into the Amravati land scam case.

Advocate Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, informed a bench presided over by Justice Vineet Saran that the State sought to withdraw the special leave petition, and it would file the counter affidavit before the high court, together with the application to vacate the stay.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing respondents, submitted the state came to the top court at an early stage.

"They have had the benefit of a stay for almost eight months. Let the matter be called here and be decided once and for all," he said.

The court, however, said that the High Court should decide the matter. The bench, also comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, declined to set a deadline for deciding the matter at the High Court.

The Andhra Pradesh government had ordered an SIT probe into the allegations of a scam in the sale of land near Amravati, in anticipation of the establishment of new state capital after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The High court, on September 15, 2020, had stayed the SIT probe on a plea by the former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas.

On July 19, in a major blow to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the top court dismissed the state's plea against quashing of criminal cases filed in connection with land transaction deal at Amravati.

The top court had noted that private sale transactions cannot be criminalised and that the concept of the offence of "insider trading", cannot be read into Section 420, IPC or into any provisions in the scheme of IPC.