Supreme Court Sets Aside Andhra HC's Stay Order On Probe Into Amaravati Land Deals During Chandrababu Naidu's Tenure As Chief Minister

The Supreme Court has overturned an Andhra Pradesh High Court order that had stayed an SIT investigation into land deals in Amaravati during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime.

The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had appointed a Cabinet Sub-Committee to investigate corruption allegations against the previous government.

After receiving a report from the committee, the state government formed a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)-rank IPS officer.

The team was tasked with conducting an extensive inquiry into multiple alleged irregularities, including land deals, that occurred during the previous Chandrababu Naidu regime in the Amaravati Capital Region. The High Court indefinitely stayed both notifications, prompting the state to approach the Supreme court.

A bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh stated that the High Court's interim stay was not required since the matter was still in the preliminary stage.

The Supreme Court noted that the state government had already requested the Centre to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and that the High Court had failed to consider this fact.

"We are inclined to set aside the orders dated September 16, 2020, while making it clear that we have not expressed anything on the merits of the case. The high court is expected to decide and dispose of the writ petitions on merits and in accordance with law, without being influenced by any of the observations made in our order.

"Considering the issues governing the facts and law, the high court may make an endeavour to dispose of the writ petitions finally within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the copy of this judgment," the bench said.