Pitani Venkata Suresh and two others had filed anticipatory bail petitions in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The Court dismissed his petition for anticipatory bail.
Pitani Venkata Suresh is the son of TDP leader and former minister Pitani Satyanarayana. Pitani Venkata Suresh’s name has appeared in the ESI scam. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has already arrested TDP MLA K Atchannaidu.
Justice K Lalitha heard the petition.
Background of the Case
Pithani Satyanarayana had become a labour minister in 2017 during TDP rule. It is alleged that both ministers forced ESI officials to buy medical equipment. That was done by substandard companies. ACB asserted that it had collected evidence against both the ministers and Suresh. Fearing his arrest, Suresh approached the High Court requesting for anticipatory bail. Nevertheless, the Court refused to grant Suresh anticipatory bail.
According to the reports, Venkata Suresh is involved in the ESI scam. Mr Suresh has been accused of collecting a 10% commission to sanction any work.
The ACB is investigating Ravi Kumar and Ramesh who had been then administrators of ESI. During Satyanarayana’s tenure as Labor Minister, the administrators denied the allegations in opposition to him that he had ordered an inquiry into Ravikumar Ramesh.
Respondent’s Arguments
MS Subhani made representation on behalf of ACB (Anti-corruption Bureau). The counsel for ACB alleged that petitioners are involved in the scam. Therefore they want to get more information from them for their investigation. The council stressed that after the arrest of petitioners, more things could come to their knowledge. Thus, Subhani argued that anticipatory bail should not be granted to the petitioners. Furthermore, that is because the case is still under investigation.
Court’s Order
Justice Lalitha heard the matter. After hearing ACB counsel, the Court agreed with her arguments. The Court dismissed the petitioner’s plea for an anticipatory bail in the ESI scam case. This is quite shocking for Venkata Suresh who hopefully knocked the doors of Andhra Pradesh High Court. Unfortunately, the Court refused to grant him anticipatory bail. This is an indication that he can be arrested by ACB for investigation in the scam.
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