Justice Ch. Manavendranath Roy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday permitted the CID to continue its investigation into the cases registered against YSRCP Member of Parliament K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju under Sections 153A and 505 (1)(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), at Dilkusha guesthouse in Hyderabad.
However, the court stayed the proceedings in respect of the sedition charge levelled against Mr. Raju under Section 124A pending a decision by the Supreme Court on all such cases booked in the country.
Cases registered
The CID had charged Mr. Raju with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth or residence (Section 153A) and making statements amounting to mischief (Section 505(1)(b)), apart from framing charges framed under Section 124A.
Mr. Raju had filed a writ petition in the high court seeking a blanket stay on the FIR registered in the light of the stay imposed by the apex court in sedition cases.
While hearing the petition, Justice Manavendranath Roy ruled that the CID could continue its probe, but only after issuing 15 days prior notice to the Member of Parliament and in the presence of the advocates concerned, and posted the case after eight weeks for further hearing.
Advocate-General S. Sriram had argued before the court that Mr. Raju was not entitled to any protection in addition to what had been granted by the apex court while granting him bail. The apex court had laid a condition in its bail order that Mr. Raju should join the investigation when called upon, accompanied by his counsel, Mr. Sriram said.
