P Narayana's arrest: All are equal before law, says Sajjala Reddy

VIJAYAWADA: Government Advisor (public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Tuesday came down heavily on former minister and founder chairman of Narayana Group of Institutions P Narayana for “making malpractice as an organised crime for getting good results for his institutions”.

On a day when Narayana was arrested in a case related to the SSC question paper leakage case, Sajjala said Narayana Educational Institutions and other corporate institutes have the culture of resorting to leaking question papers and mass copying for getting 100 per cent results. “They do not encourage competitive spirit among the students and make academics a mechanical one. They have become specialists of paper leaks and copying,’’ Sajjala alleged. 

Defending Narayana’s arrest, Sajjala said the State government has sent a strong and unprecedented message that all are equal before the law and affirmed that the government is not vindictive as being projected by a section of the media. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Sajjala said that the State government took action against Narayana after a thorough investigation. Narayana turned copying and other malpractices into organised crime and emerged as a specialist in encouraging mass copying and question paper leaks for getting good records for his educational institutions.  

He said that all such evil practices were encouraged during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime and stated that the Chief Minister shall not support such malpractices as it could impact students’ future in the long run. “YS Konda Reddy, a close associate of the Chief Minister, was also arrested as we believe that all are equal before law and the arrest justifies the mandate given to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he reasoned. 

Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said that law will take its own course. “We have arrested about 60 persons in the case of which 22 are from private institutions, including the vice-principal of Narayana schools,” he said.