PIL on Kodela’s death dismissed; Court also cites petitioner’s lack of relation to the deceased

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court, on Tuesday, dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Guntur resident seeking CBI investigation into the death of former AP Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao.

The PIL, filed by Anil Kumar Borrugadda, came up for hearing before the Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy. The duo grilled the petitioner’s counsel, demanding to know the latter’s connection to the matter and how the petition is in the interest of the public.

The Chief Justice, at the outset, questioned the locus of the petitioner in raising these issues before the court. He said that the death aggrieves only family members or close relatives of the deceased and they can raise objections. The court added that they could not entertain such requests since the petitioner is not connected to the dead.

Justice Raghavendra said that there are Supreme Court judgments stressing that courts should not interfere into an ongoing investigation in any manner. Because of all these reasons, the PIL is not maintainable, said the bench and accordingly dismissed the petition.