The special court in Vijayawada dealing with cases being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 1 (Tuesday) transferred the ‘Kodi Kathi case’ to the court of the III Additional District Judge-cum-Special Judge for trial of SPE and ACB cases in Visakhapatnam.
The court in Visakhapatnam which has jurisdiction over the undivided Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and East and West Godavari districts has been designated on July 21 as a special court to undertake the trial of the special offences being investigated by the NIA.
The court of the II Additional District Judge-cum-Metropolitan Sessions Judge in Vijayawada will be handling the NIA cases in the undivided districts of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor, Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa.
The Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Radicalisation Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a notification to that effect. A consultation in this regard took place between the Central government and Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Consequent to the designation of above courts, the special judge for trial of NIA Act cases in Vijayawada transferred the ‘Kodi Kathi’ case related to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s plea seeking exemption from personal appearance to record evidence both as a victim and witness, and the bail application of the accused J. Srinivasa Rao, to the NIA Court in Visakhapatnam.
The advocate, who appeared for the accused Srinivasa Rao, told the court that transferring the case at this late stage would delay the trial further to the detriment of the client, saying that he already spent nearly four-and-half years in jail.
On July 25, the Vijayawada NIA Court dismissed a petition filed by Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking an in-depth investigation into the conspiracy and persons allegedly involved in the attack on him at Visakhapatnam airport with a ‘Kodi Kathi’ by J. Srinivasa Rao on October 25, 2018.
