Supreme Court denies bail for Jagan

 The Supreme Court on Friday  rejected
the bail petition of the YSR Congress Party president Y.S .Jagan Mohan Reddy
who has been in jail for the last 135 days in the properties case.

Making it clear that
Jagan can approach the apex court for bail after the investigation is over, a
division bench consisting of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai
directed the CBI to finish the probe by March 31, 2013.

“The probe should be completed
as soon as possible despite the deadline of March 31,” the judges directed the
CBI.

The apex court agreed
to the request of the CBI that its officers needed more time to complete the
probe in the case but directed it to submit only one charge sheet in the entire
case.

“In the present
circumstances, we can’t grant bail for Jagan,” ruled the court.

Jagan’s bail petition
first came up for hearing on Sept 14 before the apex court but the hearing was
adjourned till Sept 28. Again, hearing was adjourned for second time till Oct 5
as CBI sought more time.

When the court began
the hearing today, CBI counsel told the judges that the agency wanted more time
for probe into investments abroad. While Additional Solicitor General Mohan
Parasaran and senior lawyer Ashok Ban appeared for CBI, senior counsel Gopal
Subrahmanyam and Viswanathan argued for Jagan.

The Supreme Court rejected the argument of Jagan
counsel that bail can’t be denied on the pretext that he would influence the
witnesses if released on bail.

CBI joint director VV Lakshmi Narayana also attended
the court hearing.

(Updated on Oct 5, 2012)