Andhra HC rejects bail to MLC Ananta Babu again

[Anta Assamey]

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to state member of legislative council (MLC) Ananta Uday Bhaskar alias Ananta Babu in connection with the murder of his former car driver Veedhi Subrahmanyam in the early hours of May 20.

The legislator, who was suspended by the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) after his arrest on May 23, sought bail on the grounds that the police had failed to file the chargesheet even after 90 days after his arrest.

The prosecution, however, argued that the police filed the chargesheet within the stipulated time but the same was sent back by the court on technical grounds. After hearing both sides, a division bench dismissed the bail petition.

Earlier, a single judge of the High Court had last month refused default bail to the MLC. The accused had approached the high court after a lower court had rejected his bail petitions thrice.

He is currently lodged in Rajamahendravaram Jail. A special court for SC/ST cases recently extended his judicial custody. In August, he was granted bail for three days to enable him to perform last rites of his mother.

Ananta Babu was arrested in May for the murder of his former driver V. Subrahmanyam. He admitted that he had pushed the deceased during an argument resulting in his fall and death.

The MLC also told police that he inflicted injuries on Subrahmanyam's body to present it as a death in a road accident.

However, the driver's family refused to believe his version and lodged a complaint with the police. After Ananta Babu's arrest, the YSRCP had suspended him from the party.

Days after Ananta Babu’s arrest, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government on compassionate grounds offered a job to Subrahmanyam’s wife Aparna.

She was given the job of a Junior Assistant in the district medical health department in Kakinada district.