A single-judge Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court headed by Justice K. Suresh Reddy dismissed the bail plea of Narsapuram MP K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju on Saturday.
While expressing his disinclination to entertain the bail petition, Mr. Justice Suresh Reddy directed the State to present Mr. Raju before a magistrate in accordance with law and in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.
Mr. Raju had filed a House Motion petition in the court within hours of his arrest by a CID team in Hyderabad on Friday (May 14), allegedly for promoting disaffection against the government and making hate speeches aimed at certain communities.
A case had been booked against Mr. Raju under IPC Sections124-A, 153-A, and 505 read with 120- B.
During the hearing, Additional Advocate-General P. Sudhakar Reddy argued that a Division Bench of the court had held that “no bail petition is entertainable unless the accused is remanded to judicial custody.”
Appearing for Mr. Raju, senior advocate B. Adinarayana Rao tried to convince the Judge that the petition deserved to be heard urgently, citing Article 21 of the Constitution (protection of life and personal liberty).
However, Mr. Justice Suresh Reddy rejected the bail plea, and said the petitioner was at liberty to approach the Sessions Court.
In his petition, Mr. Raju mentioned that he had undergone a heart surgery four months ago and the Central government provided him security due to threat to his life. He said that the High Court had passed interim orders in various cases challenged by him earlier.
Mr. Raju also said that the Supreme Court had given a clear direction that no one should be arrested in cases where the sentence was less than seven years during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Allahabad High Court had held that even persons accused of serious offences should not be arrested during the pandemic, the MP pointed out.
