Minister's quota fraud haunts CM

By Our Legal Correspondent / TNN / Aug 3, 2006, 03:27 IST

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The HC prodded CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to decide whether it was right to have a minister in his cabinet who once committed quota fraud.

HYDERABAD: The High Court on Wednesday prodded chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to decide whether it was right to have a minister in his cabinet who once committed quota fraud.
Justice P S Narayana directed the chief minister to act on an application that questioned the legality of minister Satrucharla Vijayarama Raju's continuance in the cabinet.
Raju had been found guilty by the High Court and Supreme Court of fraudulently using an ST certificate to contest and win elections from reserved constituencies.
He now represents an unreserved constituency (Parvatipuram Assembly) and is the minister for forests and minor irrigation.

Questioning the prudence of having a past quota fraudster in the cabinet, one Nimka Jayaraju submitted an application to the chief minister and the governor in 2005, urging action against the minister.
When the application received no concrete action, the petitioner approached the High Court. In his interim order, justice Narayana expressed disapproval of the inaction of the chief minister and said sitting on the representation was not proper.

On the strength of false ST credentials, Vijayarama Raju represented the Nagur reserved constituency once (1978) in the Assembly and the Parvathipuram (ST) seat three times (1989, 1991 and 1998) in the Lok Sabha.
The Supreme Court declared that he was not an ST and was not entitled to the benefits thereof. Therefore, the petitioner contended that a person who wrongfully benefited from the use of reservation must be made to part with the spoils enjoyed.
Passing an interim order, justice Narayana pointed out that while it was the prerogative of the chief minister to choose his team, it was also required of him to look into relevant issues.
The court voiced the hope that the chief minister would act in accordance with the law. Vijayarama Raju, 58, is the former ruler of the fiefdom of China Merangi.
He is said to be a shrewd politician with a history of frequent defections, having oscillated between the Congress and the TDP with a brief stopover in the now defunct NTR-TDP.

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