Vijayawada: In a major relief to AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, a court in Dharmabad, Maharashtra, has exempted him from personal appearance in a case related to a protest he led at the Babli project site in 2010. The court also cancelled the non-bailable warrant issued against Mr Naidu while disposing of his recall petition.
Now Mr Naidu need not attend court in the Babli case until charges are framed against him by the police. The court issued the orders after almost one and a half hours of arguments. Supreme Court advocate Sandeep Luthra appeared on behalf of Mr Naidu.
Mr Naidu’s advocates argued that he had not received any summons or bailable warrant until then in the case and expressed surprise that he was issued an NBW straight away. They also said that they came to know that the case existed only through the media as until now they had not received any summons related to the case.
They also cited examples of Supreme Court orders in such cases in the past. While agreeing with the arguments of the advocates, the Dharmabad court judge accepted the recall petition and another petition to exempt Mr Naidu from personal appearance on October 15.
