In a relief to the Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Dharmabad court in Maharashtra has given him exemption from personally appearing in court in a case related to the 2010 Babli agitation. The court also cancelled the non-bailable warrant which was issued against the Chief Minister. However, the other 15 leaders who are accused in the case have to attend the case as per the schedule of the court.
Following the arguments of Naidu's counsel, the court has given him exemption from attending the court until the concerned police authorities frame charges against him after the arguments. Supreme Court advocate Sandeep Luthra reportedly appeared on behalf of CM Naidu.
In September second week, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Chandrababu Naidu and 15 others in a case related to violating prohibitory orders, while staging a protest in Nanded police jurisdiction in the year of 2010, against Maharashtra government increasing the height of the Babli barrage irrigation project on Godavari river.
On September 21, the court while refusing to recall his petition, asked Chandrababu Naidu to appear before them.
The first class judicial magistrate of Dharmabad has issued the order and directed the police to arrest all the accused and produce them in court by September 21, including CM Naidu.
In 2010, Naidu the then opposition leader of united Andhra has spearheaded the agitation against Maharashtra over Babli project, alleging blatant flouting of rules, and claiming that increasing the height of the barrage will turn northern Telangana into a desert.
Now, the TDP has alleged political vendetta by the Narendra Modi led BJP government, because the TDP walked out of the NDA. The party has also accused the YSRCP of conspiring along with the BJP.
In a public meeting in Kurnool, Chandrababu Naidu said that he was not afraid of warrants as he hasn’t committed any crime.
"I did not commit any crime. In the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh, I protested against Babli on Godavari River as it was a project within a project that would harm the interests of North Telangana," he said.
The recent IT raids on several TDP big guns like Rajya Sabha MP CM Ramesh, and Beeda Mastan Rao, a Nellore based senior leader, have also drawn criticism from TDP.
TDP National spokesperson Lanka Dinakar in a statement condemning the alleged political vendetta of Modi and BJP said, "From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, IT & other institutions are being used as a weapon against political opponents who raises their voice against the illegitimate, undemocratic and unconstitutional acts of Narendra Modi led BJP.”