Last month, former Chief Minister and YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy sought permission from the CBI Court in Nampally to visit UK where his daughters are pursuing higher education. The CBI court approved his request to leave the country from September 3rd to 25th. However , Jagan didn’t embark on his journey as per his plan due to passport issues. He has now filed a petition in the High Court over the restrictions imposed by the special court in Vijayawada.
Going into the details, Jagan’s diplomatic passport which was in force when he was in power as Chief Minister was terminated following his defeat in the recent assembly elections which relegated him to the post of MLA. As he is now treated as an MLA, Jagan applied for a regular passport and the CBI court permitted to renew it for five years. However, the passport office directed Jagan to obtain a no objection certificate from the special court which deals with the cases of MLAs and MPs as there is a pending case against him in connection with a defamation suit filed by P. Narayana.
Much to the shock of Jagan, the special court allowed Jagan to apply for a regular passport only for one year. Moreover, it directed Jagan to travel between September 6th and 27th only. Frustrated with the conditions, Jagan immediately filed a lunch motion petition in the High Court to strike down the orders of the special court as it is acting beyond it power and imposing unnecessary restrictions.
The High Court will hear this urgent petition from Jagan on Monday and pronounce the judgement after pursuing the merits of the case. Jagan’s UK trip will depend on the High Court order in this case. Jagan decided to defer his plans until Monday. He flew back to Bengaluru from Vijayawada on Friday after staying here for a few days following his visit to the flood affected areas last week.
