AP High Court Protection to Pinnelli from Arrest up to June 6

Vijayawada: The AP High Court has provided interim protection to Macherla MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy through an order on Tuesday. The court avoided taking any coercive action including arrest in connection with the several cases booked against him until June 6 - the next date for case hearing. A single-judge bench of Justice V.J. Pratapa issued the order here after completing the hearing on Monday. It imposed certain conditions for interim protection to the legislator based on his plea for grant of anticipatory bail. The cases related to the poll-related violence.

The court directed the state’s Chief Electoral Officer to have complete surveillance on the movements of the petitioner till June 6. He shall not involve in any criminal activity or repeat the alleged offenses lodged against him. He shall not create any law and order problem in the Palnadu district and shall take responsibility for the actions of his followers and see



that no incident is attempted or committed, the court said.

This apart, he shall not make any comment in print nor electronic media about his role in the present set of cases and shall not interact with any of the witnesses / victims to induce, influence or threaten them. He shall stay at the headquarters of the parliamentary constituency during this period. If the counting station is set elsewhere, he shall be permitted to visit such station on the day of counting. He shall mark his presence at the office of SP, Palnadu, every day between 10 am and 5 pm. Further, the legislator shall furnish details of his place of stay at Narasaraopet and shall deposit his passport before the magistrate court. He shall not leave the country without court permission. On the day of counting on June 4, he shall appear before the Returning Officer of the particular constituency, the court ordered.