High Court Setback for Former Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy

In a significant development, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has delivered an adverse verdict against YSR Congress Party leader and Punganur MLA Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, along with several members of his family, in a case related to alleged encroachment of forest lands.

The legal dispute involves accusations concerning approximately 75.74 acres of land in various survey numbers in the Mangalampeta region of Chittoor district. Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, his brother and Tamballapalle MLA Dwarakanath Reddy, his son and Rajampet MP Peddireddy Mithun Reddy, and his brother’s wife P. Indiramma had earlier approached the High Court, alleging that officials were attempting to evict them from these lands.

Recently, the family filed a supplementary petition requesting a stay on the criminal proceedings initiated by the Forest Department. They argued that the actions taken against them were unjustified and sought the court’s intervention to halt the ongoing investigation.

However, Justice Challa Gunaranjan of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed the supplementary petition, refusing to stay the criminal cases filed by the forest officials. The court issued interim orders rejecting the plea to halt the proceedings.

In his ruling, the judge noted that while the petitioners did not receive relief from the criminal charges, previous orders from the same court had clearly instructed the Revenue and Forest Department authorities to strictly adhere to legal procedures if any stringent actions were to be taken concerning the land under dispute.