The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday issued notices to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and 40 others in response to a petition filed by Naraspur MP K Raghurama Krishnam Raju. The court wanted the respondents to give their reply at the earliest possible time.

Raghurama Krishnam Raju alleged that there are several financial irregularities in the direct benefit transfer programmes of the state government. He sought the high court to order for a CBI enquiry into the irregularities.

Arguing for the state government and the chief minister, advocate general S Sriram told the court that the petition was purely a political statement. The petitioner is politically against the chief minister, and it has no value to be considered for hearing.

He requested the court to reject the petition as it has a political motive behind it. He also told the court that the petitioner had been working against the chief minister and the state government for several years.

Arguing for the petitioner, a senior advocate told the court that the state government had destroyed some important files in various departments as the petition was filed in the court. The government was also destroying evidence to be given to the court in relation to the petition.

On hearing both the arguments, the high court directed the registry to issue notices to all the 41 persons including chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. The court posted the case for next hearing on December 14.