Supreme Court rejects Jaganmohan Reddy's plea against High Court order for CBI probe

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea of the former Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy against the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order asking the CBI to conduct a probe into the alleged assets disappropriation case.

The bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari said that there is no need to interfere with the order of the High Court.

Jaganmohan Reddy had earlier approached the Apex Court challenging the  August 10 order of the High Court stating it as an unreasoned decision.

The High Court, in its order, had directed the CBI to take take their probe into the case to its logical end.

The High Court gave such an order as a result of the petition filed by the state Handlooms nd Textile Minister P Shankar Rao who alleged that Jaganmohan Reddy's income had ascended from Rs.11 lakh in 2004 to Rs.43,000 crore by the time of his father's death in 2009.

In his petition, Rao had sought for an CBI inquiry into the affairs of the companies that has been alleged to have invested in Jaganmohan's businesses to allegedly win favours in the form of land allotments and the mining leases from the then YSR government.

The high court had set aside the arguments put forth by Jaganmohan Reddy's counsel that the petitioners has political vedentta against him and said the contention of the petitioner needs to be appreciated.

On July 22, the Supreme Court had refused to saty the High Courts order for a preliminary inquiry by the CBI into the probe and to ascertain whether Jagan's assets was in proportion to his income or not.

A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma had dismissed Jagan's plea refusing to interfere with the High Court's order.

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Jagan's mother writes to Prime Minister

Concerned by CBI probe into his assets, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, MP, today his mother Y S Vijayamma wrote to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pleading to bring some justice, sanity and fair play. In a five page letter to the Prime Minister, the late YSR's widow attacked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and asked if the CBI investigation against her son was not a clear case of witch hunting and political vendetta.

Vijayamma said that she was shocked at the brazenness with which the Central Government is stifling dissent in any form, be it the way the Anna Hazare movement is handled or the way CBI has been unleashing a reign of terror in the name of investigation into alleged disproportionate assets case of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who left Congress party to start the YSR Congress.

She alleged that the CBI raids on Jaganmohan's residences and businesses only served the main purpose of terrorizing and demoralization.

As long as Jaganmohan was in Congress in complete obedience and submission to Sonia Gandhi, he was an honourable man but the day he decided to go out, challenging her authority, not only he become the most corrupt and immoral but also his late father Y S Reddy became a scandalous person.

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CBI raids Jaganmohan's premises

CBI teams on Thursday raided several places including the home of YSR Congress President Jaganmohan Reddy and the Andhra Pradesh Home Secretary in connection with the former 's disproportionate assets case. The Andhra Pradesh High Court had ordered investigation in this matter.

Thirty teams of officials has conducted searches on various offices of Jaganmohan, his associates, investors in his companies and government officials in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Vishakapatnam, Kolkata, Rajkot and Mumbai.

In Hyderabad, CBI searched Jaganmohan's 60-bedroom Lotus Pond House in posh Banjari Hills, the residence of his sister Sharmila, the offices of Sakshi newspaper and TV channel, and the premises of some companies run by him as well as those that supposedly benefited duringthe chief ministeriship of Jagmohan's father, the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

The CBI also raided the residence of Home Secretary BP Acharya in connection with the Emaar case, in which state-owned Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) allegedly suffered a loss of more than Rs.1,000 crore. Acharya was Managing Director of APIIC when all major land allotments to companies including Dubai-based Emmar were done.

Emmar, which got land for developing a prestigious township, reduced APIIC's equity in the joint venture and roped in another company. When Acharya was contacted further, he refused to talk.

The Enforcement Directorate soon started investigation against Jaganmohan under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

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Jagan to challenge the High Court order on CBI probe

On Monday, the YSR congress party president and MP Jaganmohan Reddy stated that he would challenge the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that asked the CBI to probe his wealth, allegedly asynchronous with his income sources. It has been reported that the assets were acquired mostly when his father, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, (YSR), a Congressman, was Chief Minister from 2004 to 2009, before he died in a chopper crash. The occasion of Independence Day was used by Jaganmohan to slam the Congress leadership for betraying his father and denied that he had ever misused the office of his father. Jaganmohan said, I am helpless, alone and young. And today I am being targeted for resigning from the party (Congress). I was shown I-T notice after I formed my own party. The charge that the companies that invested in his firms did so because his father favored them was denied by Jaganmohan.

He charged the congress with using the income tax department and enforcement directorate to persecute him.

It was asserted by him, It is all because they don't want a man who has left the congress to come back to power in the State. It was alleged by Jagan that his father's reputation was being tarnished. He asked, This is what you do to a man who served you for 30 years? Again, it was added by him that it was because of his father that the Congress could win power in Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and 2009.

In the meantime, P. Shankar Rao, the handloom and the Textiles Minister, on whose petition the High Court ordered the probe into Jaganmohan's wealth, alleged that his assets had gone to Rs. 43,000 crore from Rs.11 lakh in seven years.

News report By, SM

Jaganmohan Reddy may face arrest in assets case

With the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordering a CBI probe into his alleged illegal welath, India's richest MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy may face arrest and his asstes are likely to be seized. The CBI, which conducted the preliminary investigations on th direction of the court last month, is expected to take up the full probe against the YSR Congress party chief, popularly known as Jagan and his associates after receiving the court orders on Wednesday. The federal agency will book a criminal case and take up investigations under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act as directed by the court. The CBI may constitute a multi-disciplinary investigation team as as done to probe the Satyam accounting fraud. As the case involves alleged money laundering, hawala transactions and investments routed through tax haven  countries, the  team will have officials from the enforcement directorate, income tax and other agencies. Legal experts said that Jagan and others who were involved in the  case may face arrest. D.Srinivas, counsel of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said that if the investigation agency feels the accused may tamper with the evidence, it may arrest then during the course of investigation.

He also believes that Jagan's assets may also be seized if the charges under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act are proved. uring the by-polls to the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in May this year, Jagan had declared assets of worth Rs.365 crore, making him the richest MP in the country. In the 2009 elections, he was worth Rs.77 crore. Textiles Minister P. Shankar Rao, on whose letter last year the court took up the hearing, claims that Jagan was worth Rs.11 lakh prior to 2004 but now he has assets worth Rs.43,000 crore. The court ordered probe after it was prima facie convicted that many companies invested corrupt money in the firms owned by Jagan as part of quid pro quo arrangement for the largesse and benefits received by the investors from the government.

The court in its order observed that the investors received benefits in various forms like special economic zones, irrigation contracts, relaxation/permission for real estate ventures and mines.

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