‘Political rivalry’ alone cannot be a ground to quash inquiry: Supreme Court in Amaravati land scam case
The Hindu
The court was hearing a challenge brought by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in Andhra Pradesh against the State High Court’s ‘blanket stay’ on an inquiry into the alleged scam
“Political rivalry” alone cannot be a ground for quashing an inquiry into allegations of corruption and misuse of public office, the Supreme Court observed orally on November 17 while hearing a case concerning the Amaravati land scam.
“May be, at times, only political rivalry can bring out the truth,” a Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah addressed senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Varla Ramaiah.
The court was hearing a challenge brought by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in Andhra Pradesh against the State High Court’s “blanket stay” on an inquiry into the alleged scam.
Mr. Dave claimed the inquiry was instituted out of political vendetta towards the previous TDP regime in the State.
“It is already settled that political rivalry cannot be a ground to quash inquiry… If you are in the clear, why should you worry?” the Bench asked the TDP side during the hearing, at the end of which it reserved the case for judgment.
The events in this case had unfolded in June 2019 when the Reddy government issued a notification constituting a Cabinet Sub-Committee to review major policies, projects, programmes, and institutions, and the key administrative actions taken by the TDP government following the bifurcation of the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh.
The first report of the Committee on December 27, 2019 had pointed out “several procedural, legal and financial irregularities and fraudulent transactions concerning various projects were highlighted, including in the Capital Region Development Authority region”. On February 21, 2020, the State government issued another notification setting up a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to “inquire, register, investigate and conclude the investigation” into the findings of the report.
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