Plea of Dalmia Cement MD turned down
The petitioner had earlier moved an application before the CBI court which had rejected it.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has refused the plea of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. MD, Puneeth Dalmia, to direct the CBI court special judge at Hyderabad to dispense with his appearance in the illegal investments case of YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The CBI had a filed charge sheet in the special court showing Dalmia as accused No 3 in the case, involving the transfer of a prospective mining lease from Eswar Cements to Dalmia Cements and investing '96 crores in the companies of Jagan Mohan Reddy under an alleged quid-pro quo deal.
The petitioner had earlier moved an application before the CBI court which had rejected it. He then moved the High Court under Section 205 of the CrPC.
He contended that he was the director on the boards of several companies and as such he was preoccupied with management affairs.
Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy while dismissing his plea said that the case was being taken up on Fridays on the order of the court. If the petitioner was aggrieved by the direction for taking up the matter every Friday, he could challenge it in the court in appropriate proceedings.
The High Court judge noted that he found no illegality in the discretion exercised by the special court warranting interference of the High Court, while exercising power under Section 482 of CrPC, since the court could not regulate or issue any direction to subordinate courts, in passing discretionary orders.