AP HC quashes FIR on land deal
In a major setback to the state government, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday quashed the prosecution launched by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against some individuals in the sensational “insider trading” case.
The case involved purchase of lands in the new capital area of Amaravati at cheap rates, by allegedly concealing the capital status that the area was about to get then. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had registered cases against these individuals based on a complaint that close aides of Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu and his son Lokesh, who were privy to confidential information about the setting up of the new capital in
Amaravati, purchased lands at cheap rates from farmers. One of the accused was Kilaru Srihasa, wife of Lokesh’s close aide Rajesh.
Dealing with petitions filed by the accused seeking quashing of the case, Justice Ch Manavendranath Roy said, “The prosecution of the petitioners is wholly unjustifiable and clearly opposed to all cannons and basic tenets of criminal law. This amounts to a sheer abuse of the process of law, warranting intervention of this court.”
The verdict gained significance as the government registered an FIR also against former advocate-general D. Srinivas and kin of a Supreme Court judge. Aggrieved by the order, the government decided to appeal it in the Supreme Court.
Eminent poet, historian, author and former chief secretary of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Narendra Luther passed away on Tuesday morning at a private hospital. The 89-year-old, who was suffering from old age issues, breathed his last at a private hospital in the city. He is survived by his wife Bindi Luther, son Rahul Luther and daughter Sandhya Luther.
IAS officer of the 1955 batch, Narendra Luther was an eminent historian of Hyderabad. He wrote extensively about the city’s history and culture, with 14 books to his credit. His popular publications include “Hyderabad: A Biography”, “Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder, Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, the Founder of
Hyderabad”, “Lashkar: The Story of Secunderabad”, and a coffee table book – The Prince of Photographers Raja Deen Dayal”.
The former chief secretary was also the president
of the Society to Save Rocks. He was an authority on rock formations and geology of Banjara Hills. He made a documentary titled “Rockumentary” on the subject.
Born in Hoshiarpur,
Punjab, in 1932, Narendra Luther spent his formative years in Lahore. At the onset of partition, his family moved to Amritsar. In his autobiography “A Bonsai Tree”, Luther wrote in detail about his early years in Pakistan and migration to India.
In his message to family of Narendra Luther, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao recalled late Narendra Luther’s services as a person who worked on the history and culture of erstwhile Hyderabad state and its rulers, apart from being president of the Society to Save Rocks, Hyderabad. The CM lauded Luther’s services as a bureaucrat working in various capacities in the united AP government. He conveyed his condolences to members of the bereaved family.