Liquor Scam Case : Supreme Court Modifies Interim Bail Granted To Magunta Raghava Reddy; Directs Him To Surrender On June 12

The Supreme Court on Friday modified the Delhi High Court order which had granted 15 days of interim bail to Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Magunta Srinivasulu’s son Magunta Raghava Reddy. While the vacation bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Rajesh Bindal did not cancel the bail granted to Reddy, it asked him to surrender on June 12 2023. The order was modified as the bench opined that the purpose for which Reddy had been released for, that is, to take care of his maternal grandmother who had slipped and was now in the ICU, could be served by June 12 2023.

The appeal against the Delhi High Court order was filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) who had arrested Reddy in February 2023 in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy Scam. At the outset, ASG SV Raju, appearing for the ED argued that the interim bail was a ploy on the part of Reddy to stay out of jail as his regular bail had already been rejected by a Special Court and his second attempt at interim bail, which he had filed on account of his wife's sickness, had also failed because soon as the High Court ordered evaluation in the matter, Reddy withdrew his bail application. He added–

"Now he has filed for maternal grandmother. And look at illness- she just fell. It is not serious. There are people to look after her."

Opposing the submission by the ASG, Senior Advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Reddy, contended that there was nobody else to look after his grandmother who was in Apollo hospital and whose sickness had been verified by the ED itself.

ASG Raju further contended that the case in the High Court had been misrepresented as it was made to appear that Reddy's paternal grandmother was in the hospital. However, as per records, his paternal grandmother had already passed away. To this, Desai said–

"Grandmother includes paternal and maternal- I never claimed anyone else. The reality is that she's the grandmother and there is no one to look after her...They're all old. She is 83, her husband is 87 with cancer. Her daughter lost her husband who was in 60s so she is grieving and cannot look after anyone...They're saying that my father can look after her. That's wrong. She is his mother in law, not mother."

ASG Raju continued his arguments and said–

"It was argued in the High Court that it was the paternal grandmother. I was there. There was suppression of facts. There are people to take care of her. In ICU, noone can meet. Our submission is that they are all scamsters...There is a history of tampering. He has met the grandmother, now he can return. These are all tricks to get interim bail because they cannot get regular bail."

Desai, furthering his arguments, highlighted that the lady had not only fractured her bone but also had haemorrhage. He added–

"Earlier the wife had attempted to commit suicide. There are two minor children. Interim bail was not granted and we later withdrew. It's two weeks, 3 days have already gone. It is an interim bail. The investigation so far as I'm concerned is over. It's not about merits. It's about humanitarian issue. Here is a lady of 83, husband has cancer..."

After perusing the submissions of the parties, Justice Bose dictated the order and said–

"Having considered the submissions and also going through the medical documents of the maternal grandmother of the respondent, in our opinion, the purpose for which resp has been released could be served if he asked to surrender on 12 June 2023. We accordingly modify the order to direct that interim bail be till 12 June 2023 as he has already been enlarged on bail in 7 June 2023."

Case Title: Directorate of Enforcement v Raghav Magunta | SLP(Crl) No. 7280/2023

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