New Delhi: A special bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two pleas on Wednesday — one filed by former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan related to an alleged CMRL bribery case, and another by YSRCP alleging that violence in Andhra Pradesh prevented its candidates from filing nominations for the civic body polls.A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana will consider the plea of YSRCP against the October 18 order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to extend the nomination period by one day.
Former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) has alleged that mass violence in the state has prevented its candidates from filing nominations for the urban local body elections.
It has sought police protection for candidates, an extension of the deadline for filing nominations, and the designation of additional and alternative nomination centres to enable candidates to submit their papers safely.
The plea filed by general secretary Lella Appireddy through advocate Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki said that several of its candidates were allegedly assaulted and physically prevented from reaching nomination centres during the nomination period, which began on October 16 and ended on October 18.
The high court had dismissed the party’s application seeking an extension, holding that the deadline had expired and that extending it would amount to interference with the election process.
According to the Supreme Court website, the special bench, which will be sitting at the time when the apex court is closed for the Dussehra holidays, is also scheduled to consider the petitions filed by Vijayan and his kin against the high court order dismissing their pleas to file appeals against a single judge’s direction to lodge an FIR against them in the alleged Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) bribery case.
On October 15, the Kerala High Court rejected the applications of Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas to file an appeal against the single judge’s October 9 order, while holding that “an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR.”
Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, in their appeals before the high court, had claimed that they were not heard by the single judge before issuing the October 9 direction to lodge the FIR.
They further claimed before the high court that the petition, in which the single judge passed the October 9 order, was in the form of a public interest litigation (PIL) and therefore, it should have been heard by a division bench which deals with PILs.
The appeals before the high court were moved in the wake of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (VACB) Special Investigation Unit-1 registering two FIRs against Vijayan and his family members in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case.
The Kerala High Court on October 9 directed the VACB to register a case based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the state police.
The ED had sought registration of a case based on evidence gathered during its investigation and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena’s now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
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