The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision to quash the 2021 criminal case against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former minister Ponguru Narayana over alleged irregularities in the Amaravati land pooling scheme.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana refused to interfere with the High Court’s July 15 judgment, which had quashed the proceedings against Naidu and Narayana.
The challenge was filed by former YSRCP MLA Alla Rama Krishna Reddy. Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Reddy, submitted that the alleged irregularities involved around 30,000 acres belonging to more than 25,000 farmers.
CJI Surya Kant, while acknowledging the concerns relating to farmers, affirmed that they are with them on the larger issue, Whatever they are entitled to it, should be protected However, the CJI pointed out that the criminal proceedings had been initiated at the instance of a political rival and that no farmer had approached the court. He also observed that political battles should not be fought in court.
The FIR, registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act on March 12, 2021, followed Reddy’s complaint concerning the land pooling scheme introduced for developing Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s proposed capital.
Under the scheme, farmers were offered developed residential and commercial plots in return for surrendering agricultural land. Records showed that 28,181 landowners from 25 villages had contributed 35,215 acres.
The complaint alleged that amendments to the land pooling framework unlawfully extended benefits to certain categories of assigned land, allegedly causing losses to poor and marginalised landholders while conferring benefits on influential individuals.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court, however, found that the prosecution substantially arose from governmental policy decisions and executive actions. Justice Y Lakshmana Rao held that treating legitimate policy decisions and issuance of government orders as a criminal conspiracy was constitutionally untenable.
The High Court had concluded that the FIR lacked firm legal foundation and was vitiated by mala fides and political vendetta, and consequently quashed Crime No. 5 of 2021 registered by the CID at Amaravati, Mangalagiri, against Naidu and Narayana.
While dismissing the challenge, the Supreme Court clarified that the High Court’s judgment would have no bearing on other cases, which must be decided independently on their own merits.
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