YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday complained to the CBI court that jail authorities had humiliated him by ignoring his special class status and his security requirements, and brought him to the court in an ordinary van meant for undertrials.
The packed court hall was taken by surprise as the MP, who seemed very disturbed, submitted to the court that he would go on a fast unto death and would explain the reasons if permitted. He had been brought to the court along with some other prisoners in an ordinary van, thereby exposing him to serious security risk, he said. Before getting into the vehicle he had questioned the jail authorities about the vehicle. “I am an MP and president of YSR Congress and they humiliated me by bringing me in a van. I am not a criminal and the charges against me have not yet been proven,’’ he told the court.
Jagan refuses to return in van
YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, after the court session, refused to return to the jail in an ordinary van, and told the court that he would sit in the premises if need be. After hearing him out, the judge enquired with CBI counsel, who stated that the investigation agency had no role in it.
The judge observed that Mr Reddy could be provided an exclusive vehicle and escort if rules permit this, in view of the law and order situation. The Kadapa MP finally had his way and left the court about one-and-a-half hours later, after Nampally inspector Ch Sridhar informed the court that a bullet-proof vehicle had been arranged to shift him back to jail. While at the court, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy spent half-an-hour speaking with his mother Vijayalakshmi and wife Bharathi Reddy. His uncle Vivekananda Reddy was also spotted at the court.
In the representation he made to the court, the Kadapa MP said that he was arrested and committed to judicial remand only on the ground that as an MP and president of YSR Congress he is in a position to influence witnesses, but that has been the status for the past 10 months and would continue henceforth. “As part of the political vendetta and just to humiliate me, I was deliberately brought in a van used to transport regular criminals without regard to my status as a special class prisoner and disregarding my status as an MP enjoying “Z” category security. My security was seriously compromised and contrary to how the other remanded accused have been produced before this court earlier, I was made to come in the van,” he said. “It’s only out of respect for this court and with an intention to appear before this court on the said date that I didn’t protest or refuse to come in the van,” he said.