YSRC leader Jupudi says that the state's move of providing legal aid to ministers tainted in the GOs scam amounts to the fact that there was no quid pro quo while the controversial GOs were issued.
YSR Congress Party spokesperson Jupudi Prabhakar Rao has demanded an unconditional apology from the state government for not submitting its report to the High Court earlier and now "trying" to own up to the 26 contentious GOs thereby hinting that there was no quid pro quo.
"The state has failed to submit its report to the High Court when the case was first filed, which is on record, and the CM trying to say that they had reacted is a blatant lie for which we demand an unconditional apology," Prabhakar Rao told reporters on Thursday.
Appointing a legal advisor to the ministers who were slapped notices by the Supreme Court suggests that the government is defending the GOs, and that there was no case of quid pro quo.
"If this is the state's stand, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, his family members and his associates were being harassed for the past one year, with the CBI investigating the issue and framing charges that would be contrary to what the government has to say," Prabhakar Rao asserted.
"As we cannot undo the damage done to YSR's family, the ruling Congress and the opposition TDP must speak out clearly. If the government tries to own up to the GOs, that means there is no case of a quid pro quo case. If there was no case, then Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his family had suffered for no reason, and someone in the government should take responsibility for the entire episode," Prabhakar Rao said.
"While the High Court had pointed out in its order that the state government has not given any records in the 26 GOs case, the CM speaking otherwise can attract penal provision of the law. He should come out in the open and tell the truth that the state had not responded, though the Chief Secretary, ministers and senior bureaucrats were made party to the case," he said.
"This resulted in the High Court issuing an ex-parte judgment, and the CBI started its investigation in its own inimitable style, targeting Y S Jagan. Only when the Supreme Court stepped in and issued notices to the concerned ministers, did the state, in a knee-jerk reaction, appoint lawyers, wanting to spell out its stand on the GOs, giving enough signals that it will own up to the decisions of issuing the GOs and also that it will argue that the cabinet's decision is a collective responsibility and was done in the interest of general public and economic growth," he added.
"The double standards will come to the fore in due course of time, but why should YSR's family members suffer for the unrealistic moves of the state," Prabhakar Rao said. (INN)