The AP high court today temporarily suspended the CBI preliminary probe against the alleged illegal properties of former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.

The division bench consisting of the justices Ms Rohini and Ashutosh Mahantho ruled the hearing would continue tomorrow and ordered the CBI to suspend its probe for the time being.

Earlier, Reliance company counsel Harish Salve made an impassioned plea for the cancellation of the probe.

Salve, who began the arguments after the counsel for Chandrababu Naidu finished his defense, told the court that if CBI seized the records of the Reliance Industries, its share value would come down and more than one lakh investors would lose their wealth. “They would be on the streets,” he said.

It might be mentioned that the Reliance Industries impleaded itself as a party in the case and opposed the earlier court orders directing the probe.

Salve told the bench that the petition filed by YSR Congress leader Vijayamma was politically motivated and there was no prima facie evidence to conduct the preliminary probe.

The court will also hear the arguments tomorrow on the vacation petitions filed by Chandrababu Naidu and others seeking vacation of its earlier orders directing the CBI and ED to conduct preliminary probe against him for his alleged misdeeds during his stint as the CM. (JUBS)