State To Provide Legal Aid To Tainted Ministers

The Andhra Pradesh government, on Saturday, decided to extend legal assistance to defend 4 ministers who were served notices by the Supreme Court in a case involving the alleged illegal assets of YSR Congress party president and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

So far, the Congress government was in a dilemma over whether to defend the ministers and bureaucrats, or leave it to them to fight their cases individually. However, with ministers P Sabita Indra Reddy (Home), J Geeta Reddy (Major Industries), Dharmana Prasada Rao (Panchayati Raj) and Kanna Lakshminarayana (Agriculture) mounting pressure on the government seeking legal aid, the government finally bowed to their demand, and decided to extend legal assistance.

According to sources, the government is yet to receive a similar request from another minister, Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Information Technology), while former Excise And Prohibition minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao is already languishing in Chanchalguda Jail, seeking legal help from the government.

Meanwhile, the ministers denied doing anything wrong, and claimed that the GOs were issued in good faith and as per the established laws.

The government is likely to issue a GO in this regard, extending legal assistance to tainted ministers, and will also bear the expenditure incurred on providing legal help. (INN)