VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the Registrar (Judicial) to place before the bench the sealed-cover status reports submitted by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the controversial Tirumala Sri Vari Parakamani (hundi) theft and subsequent ‘compromise’ case.
Justice Gnanamneni Ramakrishna Prasad, hearing a petition filed by Tirupati-based journalist M Srinivasulu, adjourned the next hearing to December 4 and asked the court registry to produce both investigation reports for his perusal.
During Tuesday’s hearing, senior counsel Chittaravu Nageswara Rao, appearing for the former Additional Vigilance & Enforcement Officer Satish Kumar and the accused Ravi Kumar, raised a serious objection. He informed the court that the complete details of the CID’s 156-page sealed report – including the fact that 40 witnesses were examined – had already been broadcast by Telugu news channel TV5.
Nageswara Rao pointed out that the channel is owned by the current TTD Chairman and alleged that the confidential contents of the sealed report had been leaked to the media even before the court could open it.