In a big jolt to the chairman of the Eenadu Group Mr Ch. Ramoji Rao, Justice Goda Raghuram of AP High Court on Friday dismissed all the three petitions filed by him in relation to a cheating case pending against him in a Visakhapatnam court.

With the dismissal of the two civil revision petitions and a transfer application by the high court, the 75-year old Ramoji Rao will now have to face trial in a fast track court in Visakhapatnam.

The high court has also rejected the contention of Ramoji Rao that the lower court in Visakhapatnam is virtually biased against him and is prejudging the case.

Mr M.A.E. Kumar Varma, the owner of the land where Eenadu offices were located, filed a suit in a Visakhapatnam court seeking a direction to Ramoji Rao to vacate his land as the lease period was over. He also informed the court that Ramoji wrongfully gained an alternative piece of land by surrendering a portion of the leased land for formation of a road. “He falsely claimed the leased land, given by me, as his own land and surrendered a portion of the land to the government for road widening. In lieu of that surrender, he took alternative land from the government somewhere else in his name and never informed me,” Mr Varma claimed in his suit.

In response, Ramoji filed a civil suit against the landlords and filed another petition seeking amendment of his first suit but the IX additional district and sessions judge, Vishakhapatnam (Fast Track Court) dismissed both of them saying they are not bona fide.

Ramoji went to the High Court alleging bias against the judge of the lower court and sought transfer of the case to any other court in AP. Justice Raghuram ruled that once the issues are framed by the lower court, it must be construed that the trial has begun.