YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy received relief from the state high court on Wednesday, as he was granted a five-year passport, enabling him to visit the UK and spend time with his daughters.
A division bench of the state high court ordered that Jagan be granted a five-year passport, replacing the one-year passport previously permitted by the special court for cases involving public representatives in Vijayawada a few days ago.
However, the high court dismissed Jagan's plea challenging the conditions imposed by the special court for issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the renewal of his passport.
Jagan argued that granting an NOC for one year was beyond the special court's jurisdiction, as the CBI court had already granted him an NOC for five years.
His senior counsel, Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, argued that renewing the passport for five years posed no harm to the prosecution.
He further claimed that Jagan was unaware of the defamation case in the special court, as the court had not yet taken cognizance of it or issued summons to Jagan.
On behalf of the state government, public prosecutor Menda Lakshmi Narayana contended that Jagan Mohan Reddy was indeed aware of the pending defamation case, as he had mentioned it in his election affidavit.
He added that summons had been issued to Jagan, but he had refused to accept them, citing his position as Chief Minister as the reason for not appearing before the court.
While the high court granted Jagan's request for a five-year passport, it directed him to appear in person before the local court, submit sureties worth Rs 20,000, and obtain the NOC.
"All other conditions imposed by the trial court will remain unchanged," the high court ruled.