Following his bail, YSRCP’s sitting MP PV Midhun Reddy, on Monday, finally walked out after spending 71 days in Rajahmundry jail over the Rs 3,200-crore Andhra Pradesh liquor case.
The MP was granted conditional bail by the Anti–Corruption Bureau (ACB) court, directing him to furnish two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each. He will also have to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) twice a week. He has also been directed by the court not to leave the country without permission from the court. The court also asked Midhun Reddy not to contact any witness or accused person connected with the case.
As he walked out he found several of his supporters waiting for his release outside the central prison.
Reddy, the MP from Rajampet, was arrested by the SIT on 19 July after being interrogated for several hours following the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant him any more protection from arrest.
Reddy was named as accused number four in the multi-crore liquor scam case. He is considered to be a close aide of former chief minister and YSRCP president, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. PV Midhun Reddy was accused by the SIT of heading the liquor syndicate during the YSRCP rule and using the money to fund elections.
Midhun Reddy had been released briefly on interim bail to enable him to cast his vote in the vice-presidential election on 9 September.
YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had dismissed the allegations against him, calling the case against Midhun Reddy politically motivated. He had even accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of cooking up the scam to distract the people from the failure to implement his poll promises.
Meanwhile, the court has also granted bail to three other accused in the case – K Dhanunjaya Reddy, Krishna Mohan Reddy and Balaji Govindappa.