The Ethics Committee of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly will inquire into the case of a Congress legislator, who allegedly claimed reimbursement from the government for a heart operation which he never underwent.

This is the first time that the Ethics Committee is looking into an incident of this kind. Earlier, the committee had dealt with cases of alleged misbehavior of members.

Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy expressed concern over such incidents involving elected representatives and said that the legislature would look forward to an appropriate decision from the committee, as it would create a history of sorts.

AP is the one of the few states with an Ethics Committee, which is empowered to inquire into complaints concerning the unethical conduct of the members, both within and outside the House. The committee has the powers to recommend stringent punishment against any erring member.

It may be recalled that on August 9, state Advocate General C V Mohan Reddy had informed the AP high court that the government was initiating necessary criminal action against Congress member of legislative assembly Yerneni Raja Ramchander for making false medical claims to get reimbursement.

The division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice G Chandraiah, closed the writ petition after recording the advocate general's statement that the case was also referred to the Ethics Committee of the state legislature. The bench hoped that the investigation would go on strictly in accordance with the law.

A writ petition had been filed, complaining that the MLA from Kaikalur constituency in Krishna district of the state had made false medical claims and sought reimbursement from the government for a heart operation he never underwent. The petitioner, Surya Chandra Rao, alleged that the government was not taking action against the ruling party MLA.