NEW DELHI, June 15: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has challenged the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order granting anticipatory bail to P V Prabhakar Rao, son of former premier P V Narasimha Rao, in connection with the Rs 133-crore urea import scam case.

ED sources said the agency had filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court last week, seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail to Prabhakar Rao. However, no date has yet been fixed for hearing in the matter, the sources said.

The High Court had granted bail to Prabhakar Rao on March 16, and directed the ED to interrogate him only in Hyderabad during the period of his illness. He was also to be released on bail in the event of his arrest, on a personal bond, the High Court had directed.

The SLP, filed before the apex court, contests the anticipatory bail order on the grounds that there was no reasonable apprehension that Prabhakar Rao would be arrested, the sources said.The SLP, which was filed after being cleared by the Union Law Ministry, said such an order also amounted to interference in the ED's powers and prayed that the petitioner (Prabhakar Rao) should not be granted special status on the grounds that he had `Z' category security.

Prabhakar Rao, who was summoned by ED on earlier occasions, had cited his father's illness and his own indisposition as reasons for not appearing before the agency .He has been questioned twice by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the basis of allegations made by Sambasiva Rao, the Indian agent of the Turkish trading firm Karsan Limited, which entered into a contract with the public sector national fertilisers limited for the supply of two lakh tonnes of urea.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.