Supreme Court hears petition over Amaravati land scam, serves notices to SIT, TDP leaders

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to Telugu Desam party leaders hearing petitions filed in the Amaravati land scam. Along with them, notices were also issued to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and adjourned the hearing for four weeks. It is learnt that Andhra Pradesh government has challenged in the Supreme Court against the stay granted by the High Court to stop the probe into the Amaravati land scam. Senior advocate Dushyanth Dave appeared on behalf the AP government.

The Supreme Court asked a number of sensitive questions as the trial began on Thursday morning. Dushyanth Dave, who is putforth arguments on behalf of the AP government, reported that the state high court do not have the power to grant stay on the land scam, citing previous judgments. The bench questioned whether the centre and the Central Investigation Agency were also included as respondents in the case to which he has revealed that the entire petitions have been rejected.

Will this government review all the decisions taken by the TDP government? When questioned by the tribunal, Dushyanth Dave said that not only that, but only in cases where large scale irregularities have taken place. Dave revealed that the High Court had no extraordinary powers and had to abide by the orders of the Supreme Court, citing old judgments that supported his contention.

Dushyanth Dave told the bench that the state cabinet had decided to set up a SIT in June and it was not appropriate to stay the probe at a time when the entire process was going on transparently. He explained that the High Court could not interfere in the SIT investigation and that some had filed petitions against the SIT investigation in the High Court under Article 226. Dushyanth Dave was quoted as saying that a writ petition cannot be filed under Article 226 unless personally affected.

Dushyanth Dave alleged that the TDP leaders had deliberately obstructed the ongoing SIT investigation. The apex court bench adjourned the hearing for four weeks and issued notices to the special inquiry team and Telugu Desam party leaders to file counter claims