VIJAYAWADA: TDP MLC Paruchuri Ashok Babu was arrested late Thursday night on a charge of misrepresentation of his educational qualification for getting promotion when he was in the government service. The MLC was granted bail on Friday night by the Third Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Court on health grounds.
Based on a complaint lodged by Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes D Geetha Madhuri that Ashok Babu submitted fake educational certificates, the AP-CID filed a case against him under Sections 477A (officer or servant, wilfully, and with intent to defraud), 465 (forgery), 466, 467, 468, 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) R/W 34 of the IPC two weeks ago.
Condemning his arrest, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said Ashok Babu was arrested after he extended support to the government employees’ strike against PRC. The TDP extended support to the strike just because injustice was done to employees in fitment, he said. Naidu accused Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of trying to betray employees, farmers, unemployed youth and all other sections with his lies.
“How could the Chief Minister accuse the opposition TDP of instigating employees? It was Jagan who promised to abolish the Contributory Pension Scheme within one week of coming to power,” he pointed out.Countering Naidu’s allegations, Minister for Civil Supplies Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani) lashed out at the Opposition Leader for launching a malicious propaganda against the State government on its debts and supporting Ashok Babu, who committed ‘forgery’.
He said everyone is equal before the law and clarified that YSRC leaders did not lodge a complaint against Ashok Babu and it was the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes who sought investigation into the matter. “The CID has registered the case against the TDP MLC. The law will take its own course,” the minister said.
Ashok Babu was the president of APNGOs’ Association before joining the TDP in 2019 after his retirement. Later, he was elected to the Legislative Council on TDP ticket. Earlier in the day, Ashok Babu moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking bail. However, the court directed the CID to file a detailed counter and asked the petitioner’s counsel to include Lokayukta as respondent in the petition. Later, the court posted the hearing to February 14.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed at the CID regional office in Guntur on Friday when former minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and other TDP leaders were detained when they tried to meet Ashok Babu. Later, they were released.In the preliminary investigation, the CID reportedly found that Ashok Babu tampered with his service record by furnishing false information and attained benefits during his stint as an assistant commercial taxes officer.
The issue of forged certificates came to light in last August when AP Commercial Taxes Employees Association leader B Mehar Kumar lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta against Ashok Babu stating that the latter tampered with his service record to claim that he was a Commerce graduate.
The Lokayukta sought a report from the Commercial Taxes Department and directed the Joint Commissioner to file a case with the CID against Ashok Babu.
Tension at CID regional office in Guntur, devineni detained, freed
Tension prevailed at the AP-CID regional office in Guntur on Friday when former minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and other TDP leaders were detained when they tried to meet Ashok Babu. Later, they were released. The CID reportedly found that Ashok Babu tampered with his service record by furnishing false information and attained benefits during his stint as an assistant commercial taxes officer. “In the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, he mentioned that his qualification is Intermediate, but his service record showed that he completed BCom,” sources in CID said