CBI: Will seek custody of Pattabhi

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Regarding the transfer of the cash-for-bail scam to the CBI, sources said that after transferring the case to the agency, its first step would be to seek the custody of suspended special judge Pattabhi Rama Rao. Besides, the CBI will also seek the custody of arrested retired district judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao from the competent court.

On June 16, the ACB arrested Chalapathi Rao and his son Anil Kumar in connection with the cash-for-bail scam. The agency will also seek transfer of all relevant documents related to the case from the ACB. “ACB officials have recovered incriminating documents from the possession of some arrested persons. The CBI will seek transfer of these for further scrutiny,” sources said.

Call data shows JD-media link
Counsel Rama Rao Immaneni for the petitioner Bhushan B. Bhavanam, a businessman from Guntur, said that CBI joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana had earlier submitted an affidavit denying allegations that he had spoken to the media. However, his call data proved otherwise, he said.

Acting Chief Justice P.C. Ghose of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, hearing the case along with Justice C. Praveen Kumar, said, “If you want specific relief, you can file a writ or avail remedy available under civil law before the lower court.” The petitioner’s counsel replied that the matter involved “public interest” and that he was seeking action against the officer for misleading the court.

He said that talking to the media regarding a probe was against the manual of the agency and added that innumerable phone calls had been made and received between the JD and the representatives of Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi newspapers. He said that the joint director was not authorised to speak to anyone except his higher authorities on matters pertaining to cases under investigation.

CBI counsel P. Kesava Rao contended that it was a frivolous litigation purely based on newspaper reports and there was no material to show that Mr Lakshminarayana had interacted with the media and urged the court to dismiss the plea. The bench directed CBI counsel to submit the Bureau’s response to the plea on July 9.

Yadagiri bribed Chalapathi, bought car, land with money
After the arrest of rowdysheeter Yadagiri Rao in the cash-for-bail scam on Monday, ACB director-general B. Prasada Rao said, “Based on his confession that he had received cash from MLA Gali Somasekhar Reddy, Dasharata Ram Reddy and others for the bail of Gali Janardhan Reddy, we seized the cash from his house.”

Yadagiri had confessed that he had been paid Rs 9.5 crore by Somasekhar Red-dy. “Out of this, he paid Rs 3 crore as advance to retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao on May 11. He bought a Maruti Swift in Secunder-abad for Rs 8.1 lakh and a plot adjacent to his house for Rs 40 lakh. He also paid Rs 20 lakh for the purchase of a house at Nacharam,” Mr Rao said. Yadagiri was produced before an ACB judge on Monday evening.

The ACB had registered a case against CBI special judge T. Pattabhi Rama Rao and seven others bas-ed on the complaint lodged by the CBI. Rama Rao, his son T. Ravichandra and Chalapathi Rao have already been arrested. Sources said Yadagiri had approached Chalapathi Rao in December 2011 and had asked him to convince Rama Rao, who was then ACB judge, to grant bail to Sarveshwar Reddy, a police officer facing a disproportionate investments case. In his confession, Chalapathi Rao had stated that Rama Rao granted bail to Sarveshwar on December 13. Yadagiri had given Rs 10 lakh to Rama Rao and Rs 1 lakh to Chalapathi Rao for the deal. On May 2, Yadagiri called Chalapathi Rao and asked him to arrange bail for Gali Janardhan Reddy. The issue was discussed again on May 6 and Yadagiri offered Rs 3 crore. This was later enhanced to Rs 5 crore.