YSR chief Jagan Mohan Reddy denied bail by SC once again

Court said it could not be ruled out that Jagan, who is under arrest since May 27, 2012, may influence the witnesses and tamper with the material evidence

YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy got a fresh jolt today with the Supreme Court dismissing his bail plea for the second time in seven months saying his release at this stage may hamper the probe into corruption case of "huge magnitude".

The apex court also said it cannot be ruled out that Jagan, who is under arrest since May 27, 2012, "may influence the witnesses and tamper with the material evidence" as the CBI has alleged that the MP from Kadapa is the "ultimate beneficiary and the prime conspirator in huge monetary transactions".

It took into account the CBI allegation that Jagan, son of the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Readdy, allegedly "adopted several ingenious ways to amass illegal wealth which resulted in great public injury".

The agency has also alleged that Jagan's father as the then Chief Minister of the State abused his public office to the benefit of his son who since May 2004 to 2009 started floating several companies.

"On going into all the details furnished by the CBI in the form of Status Report and the counter affidavit dated May 6, 2013, sworn by the Deputy Inspector General of Police and Chief Investigating Officer, Hyderabad, without expressing any opinion on the merits, we feel that at this stage, the release of Jagan would hamper the investigation as he may influence the witnesses and tamper with the material evidence," a bench of justices P Sathasivam and M Y Eqbal said.

The apex court on October 5, 2012 had also rejected Jagan's bail plea after the CBI had said that the probe against him in seven matters of high magnitude in which high profile people including politicians and bureaucrats were allegedly involved, was yet to be completed.