HC serves notices on 3 MPs, MLA

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad,Aug. 5: The AP High Court on Wednesday served notices on three Lok Sabha members, Mr V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Mr L. Raja Gopal (Congress) and Ms Vijayashanti (TRS) and the TD legislator, Ms Suman Rathod, seeking a reply on petitions filed against their elections to Parliament and the Assembly.
Justice K.C. Bhanu granted them four weeks to file their replies on charges made by different petitioners.
Mr Regu Maheswar Rao, a voter from Araku LS constituency, questioned the caste of Mr Kishore Chandra Deo. Mr Dev claimed he is a ST whereas the petitioner contended that he is Kshatriya.
Mr Sunakra Satyanarayana filed a petition against Mr L. Rajagopal, MP from Vijayawada, charging that he had submitted a false declaration with regard to his children.
Mr Narendra Nath, who was defeated by Ms Vijayashanthi, has sought recounting of votes in the Medak Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr Ajmeera Harinaik of Adilabad, challenged the election of Ms Suman Rathod contending that she is not a ST.

HC to decide trial location

Justice G. Bhavani Prasad of the AP High Court on Wednesday said he will decide whether the murder trial of Ayesha Meera, a BPharmacy student, can be held in a lower court in Vijayawada.
Satyam Babu, prime accused, filed a quash petition in the court seeking an interim direction to stay the trial till disposal of his petition.
Mr Bojja Tarakam, senior counsel for the petitioner, said there were a number of lacunae in the investigation. He said the police had arrested a person identified as Laddu and said his footprints matched those obtained from the scene of crime. But he was later let off.
Refuting the petitioner’s arguments, Mr C. Nageswar Rao, public prosecutor, said fingerprints and DNA tests proved the involvement of Satyam Babu in the crime.
The judge said he will hear the matter on August 11.

Raju custody extended

The 13th additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Mr K. Sudhakar, on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of Mr Ramalinga Raju and seven other accused in Satyam scam to August 19. They were produced before the court as their period of custody expired on Wednesday. The CBI authorities sought extension of the custody of the accused in view of the ongoing investigations into the Rs 8,000-crore scam.