KARIMNAGAR: Completing his victory after a 15-year-long battle, Congress MLA Aadi Srinivas on Monday received a demand draft of Rs 25 lakh from Vemulawada former MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh regarding the latter’s Indian citizenship.Ramesh paid ₹25 lakh to Srinivas, complying with an order issued by the Telangana High Court on December 9, 2024. The court had imposed a total penalty of ₹30 lakh on Ramesh, finding he had misled the judiciary and the government about his German citizenship and submitted false documents to retain his Indian status.Of the imposed amount, ₹25 lakh was payable to Srinivas, who initiated the citizenship challenge in 2009, and ₹5 lakh to the High Court Legal Services Committee within 30 days of the judgment.Although Ramesh paid ₹5 lakh to the legal services committee, he delayed handing over the ₹25 lakh demand draft to Srinivas. The Congress MLA refused to accept the delayed draft due to its imminent expiry date. Subsequently, Ramesh filed a fresh petition seeking permission to issue a new draft, which the High Court allowed after obtaining consent from both parties.The fresh ₹25 lakh draft was handed over to Srinivas’ counsel on Monday, in the presence of advocates V. Rohith Rao and V. Ravikiran Rao.Justice Vijay Sen Reddy, in his December judgment, upheld the Central government’s 2019 cancellation of Ramesh’s Indian citizenship, declaring that he had misrepresented his nationality for over 15 years. Legal experts described the ₹30 lakh penalty as unprecedented in citizenship-related cases.Despite serving four terms as MLA, Ramesh did not appeal the court’s ruling, which was widely interpreted as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.Meanwhile, Srinivas has demanded the issuance of a gazette notification declaring Ramesh’s MLA tenure invalid from 2009 to 2023. He also called for the withdrawal of government benefits granted to Ramesh during that period, initiation of criminal proceedings for fraud, and a public apology from Ramesh to the people of Vemulawada.
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