Embattled TDP chief Naidu finally gets bail for four weeks on health grounds; to surrender on 28 Nov

Related: CID registers new case against Naidu over AP liquor policy

The court order

Justice Tallapragada Mallikarjuna Rao delivered the orders after hearings on a petition that Naidu moved seeking interim bail to enable him to get better medical care for the health problems that began developing after his incarceration.

The court, while granting interim bail, said that there was no remote possibility that the petitioner would evade the judicial process or pose a flight risk.

The court, while allowing bail, also said: The petitioner should furbish a bail bond for ₹1 lakh with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court,

The petitioner shall get himself examined and treated at a hospital of his choice at his own expense, the order added.

The petitioner shall provide details of the treatment given to him and the hospital where he got treated in a sealed cover to the superintendent of central prison in Rajamahendravaram at the time of his surrender. The superintendent shall, in turn, forward the sealed cover intact to the trial court.

The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat, or promise to any person who is acquainted with the facts of the case to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or any other authority.

The petitioner shall surrender himself before the superintendent of Rajamahendravaram Central Prison at or before 5 pm on 28 November.

Related: Alleging threats to his life in prison, Naidu seeks foolproof security

Naidu’s petition

In his petition for interim bail, Naidu said that as he was 73 and due to inadequate medical supervision and lack of facilities in the jail he was facing health complications on account of his continued incarceration.

Prior to his arrest, he said he was in the continuous medical care of his personal doctors and he was not able to get medical management, which he had been getting since long and due to this his health was deteriorating.

The court said that the interim bail was being granted considering the painful and pressing nature of the petitioner’s reported health conditions, and without delving into the merits of the case.

The medical report clearly indicates that the petitioner requires cataract surgery on his right eye. Therefore, it is a reasonable proposition to permit him to seek treatment at the same hospital where he had the surgery for his left eye.

The court said that with a humanitarian perspective in mind and considering the petitioner’s health condition, it was inclined to grant temporary bail on health grounds to the petitioner enabling him to undergo the required surgery on his right eye.

Related: Bhuvaneswari kicks off Nijam Gelavali yatra to support husband Naidu

TDP reacts

Later, in an official statement, the TDP said that “truth has prevailed” and Chandrababu Naidu is finally walking out of the prison as a “washed pearl”.

The TDP leaders across Andhra Pradesh will organise a rally from Rajahmundry via Vemagiri, Ravulapalem, Tanuku, Tadepalligudem, Bhimadolu, Dendulur, Eluru, Hanuman Junction, Gannavaram and finally reaching Vijayawada to celebrate the occasion.

Despite all the efforts by the ruling YSRCP to constantly put Chandrababu Naidu under scrutiny and label him as a criminal, they finally failed, the release said. This shows that how the YSRCP is afraid, scared, intimated and terrified of the TDP.

Fearing that high court or Supreme Court might grant bail as they haven’t proved anything till now, they have “manufactured” a new case, the release said in a reference to the latest CID FIR over Andhra Pradesh liquor policy during Naidu’s tenure from 2014 to 2019.

Time and again, when the YSRCP failed to gather strong proof to support their false narrative, they concocted an additional case, it added.

“We have seen how an YSRCP MP has talked about killing him inside the jail. We have seen how YSRCP has constantly tried to build a false narrative. Today, we have witnessed how our visionary leader, who courageously led the battle for 52 days, has proved that truth find its own path,” the statement said.