ANANTHA SATYA UDAYA BHASKARA RAO @ ANANTHA BABU v. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

ANANTHA SATYA UDAYA BHASKARA RAO @ ANANTHA BABU APPELLANT(S)

1. The appellant herein is stated to be a sitting member of

the Legislative Council in Andhra Pradesh and belongs to a

political party, which is now in opposition. He is accused

in FIR No.195/2022, registered at Police Station Sarpavaram,

Andhra Pradesh, under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the Indian

Penal Code, 1860 (in short, the ‘IPC’) and Section 3(2)(v)

of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention

of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

2. Conscious of the fact that any observation by this Court

at this stage may cause prejudice to the parties, we

nevertheless find no reason, upon perusal of the impugned

order, to doubt that the police/investigating agency has

been hobnobbing with the appellant–accused. All efforts have

been made to offer him default bail under Section 167(2) of

the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, on a platter. However,

the High Court turned down such a prayer, which has given

rise to these proceedings.

3. When the instant appeal came up for hearing on

12.12.2022, this Court granted leave and directed that the

appellant be released on bail. He has, thus, been enjoying

the benefit of interim bail for more than 2 ½ years.

4. On our repeated que...