The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday withdrew its petition filed in the Supreme Court challenging the state high court order that stayed investigations into the Amaravati land scam case.
A bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari allowed the plea of senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, representing the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government that he was withdrawing the special leave petition in the SC and would like to go back to the state high court for full hearing.
The Supreme Court is hearing a special leave petition filed by the Jagan government challenging the state high court’s order of September 2020 staying the First Information Report registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau into the alleged Amaravati land scam.
The FIR named 13 persons, including two daughters of Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana, then a Supreme Court judge and former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas, on the ground that they purchased land in Amaravati area and made pecuniary gains.
Last week, the state government told the Supreme Court that it would not take any “coercive action” against the two daughters of Ramana and also Dammalapati Srinivas in connection with the purchase of lands in Amaravati.
However, the state government’s counsel, however, said the Supreme Court allowed the ACB investigations into the allotted land scam.
He also told the apex court that it was okay if the investigation is supervised by a retired judge of Supreme Court or the high court.
Now that the state government withdrew its SLP in the Supreme Court, it would have to file a review petition in the state high court, seeking to lift the stay on the ACB probe.
In October 2020, Jagan had written to then CJI SA Bobde, complaining that justice NV Ramana (present CJI) was trying to influence cases in the high court to destabilise his government and stall investigations.
In March this year, the inquiry exonerated justice Ramana and dismissed Jagan’s complaint, clearing the decks for his appointment as the CJI.
