Jagan to appear before CBI on May 25

It was a major set back for YSR congress chief and Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy as the Andhra Pradesh high court refused to entertain his plea to stay his appearance before the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the illegal assets case.

Justice Chandrakumar upheld the order of the CBI court which directed Jagan to appear before the officials of the probe agency on May 25.

Jagan had moved the court seeking a postponement on the date of appearance. He had said that he be allowed to appear before the CBI after June 15 as he was busy with campaign for by-elections until then. The court however refused to interfere with the order of the CBI court.

The high court however made it clear that the provisions under Section 41 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure will be followed while dealing with this case. Section 41 A of the CrPC states that a person shall not be arrested unless he is issued with an appearance notice and questioned.

The provision also states that an arrest shall be carried out without questioning only if that person fails to appear on the date of the summons before the investigating authority.