NEW DELHI: In a setback to former Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay an Andhra Pradesh high court order for a preliminary CBI enquiry to ascertain if he owns assets disproportionate to his income.
A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma dismissed Reddy’s plea refusing to interfere with the high court’s order.
The bench said “at this stage” no interference is required into the high court order as it is only a preliminary enquiry and the high court can refuse to proceed against him if nothing substantial comes out against him in the probe. The bench, however, asked the high court to give a copy of the CBI probe report to Jagan if it decides to proceed against him on the basis of the agency’s findings.
The bench turned down the plea of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appearing for Jagan, tried to convince the court that there is nothing against the politician and there is a political rivalry behind this.
Jagan, son of late chief minister Y S Rajasekara Reddy, had approached the apex court challenging an Andhra Pradesh high court order for a preliminary probe by the CBI to ascertain if he owned assets far exceeding his legal income. (Agencies)