Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday got a relief, albeit a temporary one, in the Dharmabad court in Maharashtra in connection with the 2010 Babli agitation case.
The court, which heard the arguments of Naidu’s lawyers for over one and a half hours, gave exemption to Naidu from attending the court personally on October 15.
The court adjourned the case to November 3, but the lawyers sought exemption for him on this date, too.
However, the court did not entertain the petition of Naidu seeking quashing of the case. His lawyers argued that the AP chief minister had never received any arrest warrant from the court.
While the prosecution said the arrest warrants were served on Naidu’s residence in Hyderabad, the defence lawyers said though Naidu came to Hyderabad frequently, the warrants were not served on him.
The court did not agree with Naidu’s argument that it was a political case foisted against him out of vendetta.
“Even the sections under which the cases were filed were not very serious. So, they don’t merit issuance of arrest warrants. The cases can be quashed,” the lawyers argued.
Earlier, legal experts told Naidu not to attend the court, but he could take the legal recourse to seek exemption from attending the court. If he attends the court, it amounted to admitting his guilt in the case.
There is also a possibility of the court order his arrest even for a brief period, which is what the BJP leadership wants. Since he feels he is not guilty, he should continue to make efforts to get the case quashed, they suggested.