HYDERABAD: The High Court will examine on Wednesday whether there is any provision in law to permit Kadapa MP and YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is in judicial remand, to campaign for his party candidates for the June 12 byelections.Justice B Chandra Kumar asked the counsels of the CBI and Jagan Mohan Reddy to come back at 2.15 pm on Wednesday and assist the court hear the issue without going into the merits and facts of the case concerned.The lower court had on Monday remanded Jagan, accused number one in the alleged illegal assets case, in judicial custody till June 11 to prevent him from influencing the witnesses and tamper with evidence. Following this both the CBI and Jagan on Tuesday approached the vacation bench of the High Court with their respective petitions _ the CBI seeking his custody and Jagan challenging the arrest and remand.Jagan said the CBI had arrested him on May 27 and produced him in the CBI court on the following day. The court, while remanding him in judicial custody, said that he, being an MP and president of a political party, was in a position to influence witnesses and tamper with evidence. It was not at all proper for the CBI court to remand him on the above grounds, he said. Already, the CBI had filed three chargesheets and was in possession of all the evidences. There was therefore no scope for tampering with evidence, he contended.Saying that the CBI arrested him on Sunday with mala fide intentions, Jagan requested the High Court to quash the lower court’s order of remand, and release him on bail immediately.As counsels of both the parties requested the judge to hear their cases on Wednesday, justice Chandra Kumar reserved his orders on the petitions of Jagathi Publications and V Vijaya Sai Reddy challenging the order of the court taking cognizance of the first chargesheet, and sought to know whether there was any provision in the law to permit him to campaign in the byelections. “It is a democratic country and elections are part of it. In a democracy, we cannot curtail any party leader or candidate to campaign in election. Without looking into facts or merits of the case or allegations and counter allegations, I will hear both the parties on this limited issue tomorrow,” he said.The judge asked both the counsels to explain whether the law permits the court to grant police custody of an accused beyond the stipulated period of 14 days. The CrPC mandates the investigation agency to seek police custody of an accused in the first 14-day remand period. If the period elapses, the agency cannot move an application for police custody of an accused.Earlier, Sushil Kumar, appearing for Jagathi Publications and Vijay Sai Reddy, said Section 173 of CrPC does not empower a trial court to take cognizance of an ‘incomplete’ chargesheet filed without completing investigation.
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