The Andhra Pradesh excessive court docket on Thursday granted bail to 34-year-old Janipalli Srinivas Rao alias Srinu, an accused within the case pertaining to assault on YSR Congress get together president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy airport in October 2018, when the latter was chief of opposition, individuals acquainted with the matter mentioned.
A division bench of the excessive court docket comprising justices U Durga Prasad Rao and Kiranmayee Mandava, which reserved its judgment on Wednesday after a protracted listening to of the arguments on the bail petition filed by Srinu, granted him bail. Srinu has been languishing in jail as an undertrial for over 5 years.
The bench requested Srinu to submit two sureties of ₹25,000 every and seem earlier than the native court docket at Mummidivaram in Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema district each Sunday. The bench additionally directed him to not communicate to the media or anyone else in regards to the case.
Srinu moved the excessive court docket in July 2023, days after he was denied bail by the particular court docket for Nationwide Investigation (NIA) circumstances in Visakhapatnam by citing sure provisions of Part 6A(b) of Suppression of Illegal Acts In opposition to Security of Civil Aviation Act of 1982.
Petitioner’s advocate Abdus Salim argued that the case, which was probed by the NIA, was dealing with “inordinate delay” in adjudication on account of Jagan Mohan Reddy not showing within the NIA court docket to testify.
On October 25, 2018, Srinu, a small-time employee at a restaurant in Visakhapatnam airport, attacked Jagan with “kodi kathi” (a small knife utilized in cockfights), apparently to hog the media limelight. Jagan suffered a small reduce on the left shoulder.Srinu was instantly apprehended by the Central Industrial Safety Pressure (CISF) personnel on the airport and despatched to judicial remand later within the day.
Since then, barring a quick interval of two-and-a-half months between Might 23 and August 6, 2019, Srinu had been confined to the barracks of Rajahmundry central jail, earlier than being shifted to Visakhapatnam central jail in July 2023.The incident, which gained notoriety as “Kodi Kathi case,” had triggered a significant political uproar within the state then and fetched enormous mileage to Jagan in Might 2019 meeting elections in Andhra Pradesh.
The case was initially probed by a Particular Investigation Group (SIT) of the state police, however was handed over to the Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA), following a path from the state excessive court docket in December 2018, performing on a petition filed by the YSRCP chief looking for a probe by a central company into the case.
The NIA, which registered the case on January 1, slapped Part 3A(1)(a) of the Civil Aviation Act (The Suppression of Illegal Acts towards Security of Civil Aviation Act, 1982) and in addition beneath Part 307 of the Indian Penal Code for attempt-to-murder.
The trial had been performed within the particular court docket for NIA circumstances in Vijayawada since January 2019. The NIA filed the cost sheet on January 23, 2019. After a radical investigation that went on for almost 4 years, the company instructed the court docket on April 13 this yr that there was no conspiracy behind the knife assault on Jagan.
The NIA countered the argument of the chief minister that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the assault on him and urged the court docket to dismiss his petition.
On July 25, the NIA court docket dismissed Jagan’s plea for a probe into a bigger conspiracy. On October 12, 2023, Jagan filed a petition within the excessive court docket, difficult the dismissal of his plea by the NIA court docket for a complete probe into the knife assault on him by Srinu. The case continues to be pending within the excessive court docket.