Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice R. Raghunandan Rao on Thursday directed former Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao to appear before the CID on April 29 for questioning in connection with the alleged morphed video of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, which he had shown at a press conference in Tirupati recently.
In the same vein, Mr. Justice Raghunandan Rao ordered that no coercive steps be taken against Mr. Umamaheswara Rao till the next hearing on May 7.
Mr. Umamaheswara Rao was accused of displaying a video in which Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had purportedly made a comment that “any cardiology specialist, or any individual who completed higher studies, wishes to live in Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Delhi, but not in Odisha, Bihar or Tirupati.”
YSRCP Kurnool district legal cell president N. Narayana Reddy had lodged a complaint that the video was created from two different sources, including certain remarks made by the Chief Minister on his vision for healthcare in the State, and the outcome of his discussions in New Delhi on various issues.
The complainant said two genuine videos were morphed to create a false impression.
Mr. Justice Raghunandan Rao dismissed the petitioner’s argument that Advocate General S. Sriram could not appear in the matter in place of the regular prosecutor as the A-G insisted that Section 302 of the CrPC enabled him to prosecute any criminal case without prior permission of the court. The plea that Mr. Narayana Reddy had no locus standi was also refuted.