The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) to file counter affidavit in various petitions filed by Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy challenging the order of the Special CBI Court in dismissing his plea to grant exemption from personal appearance before it during the hearing of the cases registered against him. A single judge bench headed by Justice G Sridevi of the HC passed the orders while dealing with criminal appeal petitions filed by the AP CM . In his petition, Jagan told the high court that the order passed by the CBI Court was contrary to the established principles of criminal justice system. He also said that the CBI court had dismissed his plea to allow his advocate to represent him in the court during the hearing of the cases filed against him. He also said that the CBI court had ignored his plea that he was ready to appear before the court whenever the court thought it was mandatory for him to appear before It. He urged the court to quash the CBI court order and allow him to be represented by a special vakalat holder during the proceedings of the case. Later, the court has posted the matter to February 6 ,2020 for further hearing. The CM has filed a total of 11 petitions in the court seeking the same relief.
AP orders CBI enquiry into TDP Ex MLA case
The Jaganmohan Reddy government is being criticised by all Opposition parties for its revenge politics. It has registered cases against TDP leaders in a big way all over the state on one allegation or another. Now it ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the illegal mining case filed against former Gurajala MLA Yarapathineni Srinivasa Rao. This is the first CBI enquiry ordered by Jagan Circar since it came to power three months ago. Yarapathineni is facing allegations of committing massive mining irregularities worth hundreds of crores.
The AP advocate general has informed the court that from now on, the CBI will deal with the mining cases pertaining to TDP leader. He is involved in irregularities in Dachepalli and other Palnadu areas in Guntur district. There is strong conflict going in Palnadu area with YCP leaders targetting and even driving away TDP families from some villages.
Even the BJP is making allegations against the ruling YCP for carrying out a political vendetta against rival parties in the Palnadu area. The TDP accused Jagan Regime of deliberately harassing Yarapathineni with false cases. Amid these allegations, the YCP government finally decided to hand over the cases to CBI.
Jagan reversing TDP govt order on CBI may spell trouble for Naidu
In a masterstroke, the newly appointed Andhra Pradesh government led by Y.S. Jagan Reddy has reversed the decision of the previous Telugu Desam Party government allowing the Central agencies to carry out raids and investigation. This may spell serious trouble for former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his family in the coming days.
The TDP government through an order withdrew the general consent, virtually curtailing the Central agency’s powers to investigate in the state in November last year.
The general consent is routinely given by the state governments for periods ranging from six months to one year to the CBI and all agencies under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.
According to highly placed sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation, the agency may take up the investigation in eight cases where dealings worth Rs 30,000 crore are involved in the state.
Sources indicated that in September last year, a public interest litigation was filed by a retired Judge K. Sravan Kumar in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking a CBI probe involving Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh for alleged corruption.
The PIL filed by the retired judge alleged that Naidu and Lokesh were involved in a case of corruption worth Rs 21,000 crore by signing fake MoUs with the companies in the name of investments.
Naidu’s son Lokesh made his political debut in May 2013. It is alleged that Lokesh was very active in Andhra Pradesh and was instrumental in most of the MoUs’ signing with various companies in the name of investment.
Even the YSR Congress Party in 2017 filed a complaint with the CBI against Lokesh alleging that he grabbed government land spread over 80 acres in Andhra Pradesh. The CBI had accepted the complaint but asked the party to seek the court’s direction for the probe as the land in question belonged to the revenue department of the Andhra Pradesh government.
Even Lokesh’s wife Nara Brahmani had come under the CBI scanner in 2011, as the agency had served her notices in connection with the purchase of a villa in Emaar Properties.
The sources indicated even Naidu’s ambitious Polavaram project is also likely to come under the central agencies’ scanner as the estimated cost of the project rose from Rs 16,010 crore to Rs 58,319.06 crore.
The construction of Andhra Pradesh capital Amravati is under the lens as it is alleged that about 33,000 acres of land under the land pooling scheme was acquired in different methods for construction of the city.
Amaravati was announced as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh on December 28, 2014.
Probe agencies’ sources said that even the land records pertaining to more than one lakh acres have gone missing in Visakhapatnam.
CBI sources said that Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Sana, who was at the centre of the CBI infighting in October last year and was also accused of bribing top CBI officials to get relief in a case was said to be a friend of Naidu.
The sources said that the irrigation projects in the Naidu regime can also spell trouble for the TDP chief as a few select companies were given government orders against all norms and regulations in the state.
Jagan revokes orders barring CBI from operating in Andhra
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) can now operate in Andhra Pradesh as the new state government of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday revoked the order issued by the previous TDP government, barring the CBI from conducting raids in the state without its permission.
The YSR Congress Party government issued the new orders, cancelling the orders passed by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in November last year.
Principal Secretary (Home) Manmohan Singh issued an order in exercise of the powers under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, cancelling the GO issued on November 8, 2018.
In an unprecedented move, the then government headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu had issued GO number 176, barring the CBI from conducting raids or carrying out investigations in the state without its permission.
The TDP government’s orders withdrew the ‘general consent’ to CBI officers to exercise jurisdiction in the state to investigate corruption charges against central government officials and private persons.
The move had come amid a crisis in the CBI and also the strained relations between the state and the Centre after the TDP pulled out of the BJP-led NDA.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and then Chief Minister Naidu had been accusing the Modi government of misusing central agencies including the CBI and the Income Tax department to target TDP leaders.
HC asks TDP MP Chowdary to appear before CBI, stops arrest
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP and former Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary to appear before the CBI on May 27 and May 28 in the case of electrical equipment manufacturer Best and Crompton Engineering Projects Ltd allegedly cheating the Andhra Bank of Rs 71 crore in 2017.
The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to arrest Chowdary and complete his questioning in two days. The agency was also asked to allow the MP’s lawyer to be present during the questioning.
The CBI had issued notice to Chowdary to appear at its Bengaluru office on May 4 as part of its probe into the case. The TDP leader, who is an industrialist, had challenged the summons in the high court, stating that he was neither a shareholder nor a director in the company.
The agency had registered a case against the Chennai-based company and its five directors on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.
After the CBI served him a notice, Chowdary had said that he was not having any connection, knowledge or acquaintance with the company.
The Enforcement Directorate earlier this month attached immovable and movable properties of Viceroy Hotels Ltd, Hyderabad worth Rs 315 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the same bank fraud case in which Chowdary was also allegedly involved.
The ED had taken up the case on the basis of CBI FIR filed against Best & Crompton Engineering Pvt Ltd (BCEPL) and their officials, who entered into a criminal conspiracy during 2010-2013 for “defrauding Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank”.
The total loss caused to the consortium of banks due to the fraud was to the tune of Rs 364 crore. According to the ED, the BCEPL is a part of Sujana Group of Companies, of which Chowdary is said to be a promoter.
A Rajya Sabha MP, Chowdary is considered a close aide of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu. He was a Minister of State in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government before the TDP quit the NDA early last year over the Centre’s refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh.
BJP harassing rival leaders with false CBI cases: CBN
The alleged misuse of CBI and other central agencies came to the fore once again. There are rumours that the Modi government is behind the CBI cases filed against rival leaders and officials in UP. This has happened only after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have formed an alliance there. AP CM Chandrababu Naidu accused the BJP of targetting the rival parties leaders in UP after Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati reached an election understanding.
Naidu has been openly criticising the Modi government on the issue of alleged misuse of central agencies like the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, etc. CBN said the BJP have brought in a new trend of politics by implicating opposition leaders in various cases without any proof. As part of this only, the CBI raids are being conducted on the leaders of SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh now.
Naidu said it is because of the BJP leaders’ wicked politics that a peaceful state like Kerala is now in internal conflict and turmoil with religious differences reaching a peak there. The BJP is resorting to provocation of communal feelings and also bomb attacks to threaten the opponents. CBN said the BJP Central leaders were having an anti-people mindset and they were bent on harassing people-friendly leaders with false cases.
CBI faults Andhra for denying permission to act in corruption case
The CBI has taken a strong exception to the Andhra Pradesh government denying permission to carry out raids in a corruption case and leaking a confidential letter relating to it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also found fault with the state using its anti-corruption agency to trap a central government employee.
The central agency has accused Andhra Pradesh Home Secretary of non-cooperation and of sharing confidential inputs provided by CBI with others.
The CBI issued a strong-worded statement late Friday night, hours after Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trapped a central government official in Krishna district while he was allegedly receiving bribe from a trader on Friday.
This is the first confrontation between the CBI and the Andhra Pradesh government since the latter’s controversial order withdrawing general consent to the central agency to carry out raids and investigations into corruption cases in the state. In an order issued last month, the state government vested the powers of the CBI in the state with the ACB.
However, the state anti-graft agency claimed that the complainant had directly approached it.
M.K. Ramaneswar, working as superintendent in Central Tax and Central Excise (Central Board of Indirect Taxes) at Machilipatnam in Krishna district was caught red handed while accepting Rs 30,000 bribe from A.K. Lokesh Babu, a steel and cement trader.
“This is the first case on Central Government employees by ACB, AP after withdrawn the ‘general consent’ to CBI for registration and investigation of cases against central employees as per section 6(a) of Delhi Police Special EstablishmentA Act”, stated the ACB director general in a statement.
The CBI Visakhapatnam SP said in a statement that the CBI had received a written complaint from Lokesh Babu on November 28 against Ramneswar for demanding bribe.
The same day a top secret letter was sent to rhe Principal Secretary (Home), Government of Andhra Pradesh requesting him to issue specific consent to CBI to lay a trap.
“It was also requested to keep the information strictly confidential and not to share the information with any other party,” said the statement.
“However the Govt of AP did not issue the specific consent as requested by CBI, instead the details were shared by the Home Department with state ACB,” it added.
The ACB laid a trap on Friday evening against the above central government public servant by using the contents of the request letter.
“CBI deeply regrets such non-cooperation by the State Home Department in this matter. This will only make the fight against corruption more difficult for the anti corruption agencies and the mutual trust between the agencies will be vitiated. Corruption can be eradicated only through mutual cooperation, and trust”, the CBI official added.
Mamata Banerjee follows Chandrababu Naidu : West Bengal bans CBI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has followed in the footsteps of AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu and she withdrew permission given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carry out any probe in her state. From now on, the CBI officials would have to take prior permission from WB in each and every case. There will be an exception only in court referred cases.
Announcing the ban on CBI, Mamata Banerjee told her party colleagues that this became necessary as the Modi government at the Centre has been misusing CBI to harass political opponents. She said that the CBI was being used to carry out raids and searches in the premises of rivals and their associates in non-BJP states. Appreciating the struggle launched by AP CM in opposing the BJP, Mamata Banerjee gave a call to all anti-BJP parties to rally together with unity to defeat the Modi government in 2019 general elections.
Way back in 1989, the then Left government in WB gave ‘general consent’ permission to CBI to carry out investigations in any case in that state. After so long, the present WB government withdrew the permission amid a political turmoil where non-BJP states are rising in revolt against the Modi government. Already, Karnataka and AP have banned the CBI from entering their states without prior permission.
The Congress welcomed Mamata’s decision saying that PM Modi and Amit Shah have been unfortunately using CBI and other central institutions as their private armies. On its part, the BJP has criticised Trinamool Congress saying that the ruling party in WB is neck deep in corruption which is why it is afraid of CBI.
Supreme Court sensational order on CBI
After hearing several petitions, Supreme Court gave a sensational order and instructed temporary CBI director Mannem Nageswara Rao not to make any decisions till further orders. Rao is ordered to only preside over the routine administrative matters of the CBI now.
The court heard a petition made by CBI former director Alok Verma challenging the Central government’s midnight order removing him from CBI director’s post. Verma had challenged his removal since Centre cannot arbitrarily do so because of the framework of 2-year fixed term of CBI director without any interference from the Centre.
The apex court has restrained CBI temporary director from making any major decisions in the wake of controversial mass transfer of 13 CBI officials after Alok Verma and his differences with CBI former special director Rakesh Asthana came to the surface.
The court’s order came as another blow to the BJP government at the Centre. Meanwhile, Congress party leaders including Rahul Gandhi took part in protest programmes at all CBI offices in the country resenting the interference by Modi government in CBI affairs.
Modi game plan backfires: Rafale scam and CBI probe
BJP has received a big blow at national level and the party is all set to face greater embarrassment ahead of 2019 general elections. The Rs. 59,000-crore Rafale jet fighter deal with France has gone out of control. To cover up the multi-crore scam, PM Modi tried to use his ‘Gujarat model’ of using his favourite officers in CBI but this has backfired bitterly leading to loss of prestige of CBI and increased opposition attacks.
With the latest controversies, BJP now carries greater blame for not only mishandling Rafale deal but also damaging the reputation of the prestigious Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). All this happened after CBI Director Alok Verma did not allow Modi’s favourite officer Rakesh Asthana to use his good office as CBI special director to harass CMs and leaders of opposition parties across the country at the behest of BJP. The conflict reached such a point that Alok was almost removed from his post overnight and he approached Supreme Court.
Congress National President Rahul Gandhi says Alok was nearly thrown out of CBI Director post because he tried to investigate the Rafale scam following complaints given by noted advocate Prashant Bhushan and others. Rafale scam and CBI issue are now hanging around the neck of BJP more than Modi. This has become a matter for hot TV debates in Telugu states. TDP leaders are stepping up their attack over Rafale deal and CBI mishandling by Modi government.
TDP is happy that it can now convince people that Modi and BJP are deliberately forcing IT and CBI officials to conduct raids against political opponents in AP.
CBI arrests TIL directors in Rs 1,394-cr loan fraud case
The CBI on Friday arrested the directors of the Totem Infrastructure Ltd (TIL) in connection with its ongoing investigation into the Rs 1,394 crore loan fraud case involving a consortium of eight banks led by the Union Bank of India (UBI).
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said that it has arrested Salalith Tottempudi and his wife Kavita Tottempudi, both promoters and directors of TIL, for allegedly defrauding a consortium of banks.
The agency’s action comes in the wake of a case it filed on Thursday against husband-wife duo and other unidentified public servants on the basis of a complaint filed by the UBI’s Industrial Finance Branch (Hyderabad), which has been allegedly cheated of Rs 313.84 crore by the firm.
The State Bank of India, which tops the list with Rs 357.64 crore of loans, is followed by UBI (Rs 313.84 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 208.67 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs 174.47 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 126.30 crore), Oriental Bank of Commerce (Rs 79.96), JM Financial Asset (Rs 69.07 crore) and Syndicate Bank (Rs 64.48 crore).
According to agency officials, the loan was taken from a consortium of eight banks including UBI which was the lead bank. Total dues outstanding for the consortium is Rs 1,394.43 crore. This account became NPA on June 30, 2012 after default on payments of interests and instalments.
In its complaint, the UBI cited that TIL, based at Banjara Hills here, obtained the loans for the business of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor which is engaged in road projects, water works, building structures and also undertook works as a sub contractor to various companies namely IRCON, RITES, Maytas Infra Pvt Ltd, L&T and TATA projects.
The UBI also alleged that the TIL was taking loans from the bank since November 2005 when it was sanctioned credit facilities of Rs 15 crore to complete the work orders in construction and infrastructure activities.
CBI books two cases in Rs 539-crore IDBI fraud in Andhra, Telangana
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked 41 persons including three officials of the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) for cheating the bank to the tune of Rs 539 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The federal agency registered two separate cases relating to large-scale frauds in IDBI branches in the two states in sanctioning pisciculture loans.
In the first case, 31 persons including IDBI’s General Manager Battu Rama Rao and former Chief General Manager R. Damodaran, 22 aggregators and bank panel valuers were booked for cheating the bank to the tune of Rs 445.32 crores. Rama Rao has also been removed from the service.
The central agency booked the accused on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, criminal misconduct and misappropriation.
The action came after a complaint by IDBI official in Hyderabad that about 220 borrowers, consisting of 22 aggregators, conspired with IDBI bank officials at its Basheerbagh (Hyderabad) and Siripuram (Visakhapatnam) branches, along with bank panel valuers, and availed Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and pisciculture loans through 220 loan accounts from different branches of the bank aggregating Rs 198.28 crore
The loans, which were availed on the basis of fake documents and overvalued collateral property, subsequently become NPA. The outstanding amount as on September 2017 stood at Rs 445.32.
It was found that pisciculture or no other fish farming activity was ever taken up in the said lands in East and West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh and Adilabad district in Telangana and that sanctioned loans were misappropriated.
Bank panel valuers Lt. Col. B.K. Sahoo, Aakar Consulting Engineers, R.A. Sharma, M.V. Srinivasulu, Subha Syndicate, Srinivasa Rau and Somasekhara Rao were among those booked.
In the second case, the CBI booked a IDBI official and nine others for defrauding the bank to the tune of Rs 93.73 crore.
Chandrasekhar Harish Chennapagari, who was working as Assistant General Manager at Guntur branch of IDBI, allegedly abused his official position to process and sanction 142 pisciculture loans from 2010 to 2012. He has been removed from service by the IDBI.
Investigations revealed that the loans were sanctioned on the basis of fake documents. The accused include a bank panel valuer, a bank panel advocate, aggregators and individual borrowers.
CBI raids NDTV Prannoy Roy’s residence
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against NDTV founder Prannoy Roy, his wife Radhika Roy, a private company and others for allegedly causing a loss to ICICI bank. The loan was purportedly taken for a corporation named RRPR holdings Pvt ltd in 2008.
It is conducting raids at Roy’s residence in New Delhi, Dehra Dun and four other places. The television channel in its statement said that “This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations.”
The premises of NDTV were not searched however the channel in its statement also said that it along with its promoters will fight untiringly against this “witch-hunt” by “multiple agencies”. The Enforcement Directorate(ED) and income tax (IT) authorities are probing NDTV since 2014
CBI officials searched the office of RRPR which is the promoter company of the English and Hindi news channels. RRPR is also being probed for funds it received from foreign entities in connection with Aircel-Maxis case and that of purchase of planes by Air India.
Roy had founded the TV network with Radhika Roy in 1988.
TDP suspends MLC Vakati from the party
Vijayawada: The Telugu Desam Party had suspended MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy from the party as the CBI cases are filed against him. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu announced the suspension of the MLC and said that the TDP would not tolerate corruption at any level. He said that the suspension would be in force until the MLC is cleared from the cases.
Narayana Reddy was elected as MLC last month from the local bodies constituency from Nellore district. He joined the TDP after his defeat in the 2014 elections on Congress ticket.
Narayana Reddy is said to have taken loan of Rs 450 crore from the State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and the Bank of Baroda for his VNR Group which is into construction and infrastructure activities. It is said that the banks have sent repeated reminders to him for repayment of the loan for which he had failed to respond.
Interestingly, on May 3, the Income Tax officials have also conducted search in his offices in Nellore, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The CBI officials too are now searching his offices in the three cities for the last two days. However, the MLC is not available at any of the three places during the CBI raid.
CBI raids TDP MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy’s house
CBI officials conducted raids at TDP MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy’s house in Vedayapalem, Nellore on Friday morning. The raids are being conducted privately since Friday morning. Simultaneous searches are being done in Nellore, Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices. He is accused of defaulting payments for the loan of 190crores taken in 2014. The CBI has registered a case based on IFCI complaint.
Vakati Narayana Reddy is famous industrialist turned politician and founder chairman of VNR Group of organisations in Nellore. After losing elections in 2014 from Congress, he defected to TDP. Narayana Reddy is All India railway A class contractor runs the VNR Constructions, VNR infrastructure and VNR logistics. There are allegations against the minister that he has spent excessively in the recent campaign for MLC elections. He is allegedly defaulter for State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Indian Overseas Bank
Court rejects CBI’s plea to cancel Jagan’s bail
The Principal Court for CBI rejected the CBI’s plea to cancel the bail granted to Andhra Pradesh Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case.
It differed with the argument put forth by CBI that Jagan had tried to influence the witness conducting interview in Sakshi channel. The court also also permitted the YSRCP chief to go on a family summer vacation to New Zealand for 15days between May 15 and June 15. Moving forward Jagan might avoid such situations.
The interview of former Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy based on which CBI filed petition was pre-recorded and aired on Sakshi News Channel and the contents of the said interview have been published in Sakshi Daily Newspaper on 26Feb2017
In his interview Ramakanth stated that he asked JD two questions which called the wrath of CBI. Without naming the persons, the former CS inquired with Joint Director if they are investigating those particular individuals who were involved. JD allegedly said he doesn’t have jurisdiction and so cannot investigate. When Ramakanth highlighted about his powers, JD supposedly said that it is better to leave it as it may become big. That’s when Ramakanth said “I don’t trust your investigation”
Another question he asked to Laxminarayana was about his travel to abroad to find out details about suitcase companies and money laundering. JD allegedly responded by saying that, they wouldn’t be travelling but would send letter. Ramakanth insisted on travel as they wouldn’t respond to it unless a person is present. JD said “if we get the letter it is well and good, if not that’s okay.” This is when Ramakanth again said “I don’t trust your investigation”.
Jagan which was granted in September 2013, after 16 months of detention on the ground and there are 11 quid pro quo cases pending against him.
Vijay Mallya arrested in London, gets bail
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested here on Tuesday. Within hours, a court granted him bail.
Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station.
The Westminster Magistrates’ Court later gave him bail on a 650,000 pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17.
A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India.
“Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud,” the statement said.
After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: “Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected.”
Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline.
The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators — and then flew out of India.
In February, the Indian government handed over to the UK authorities a formal request for Mallya’s extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default.
Interesting reason behind CBI seeking cancellation of Jagan’s bail
Jagan bail Cancellation petition by CBI
The CBI officials have filed a petition which was accepted by the CBI Court requesting the cancellation of bail to Jagan in connection with the disproportionate Assets case.Telugu360 has accessed the petition filed by CBI to comprehend the reasons for the serious action based on mere an interview of Former Chief secretary Mr. P.Ramakanth Reddy I.A.S.
The reasons are quite interesting, MR. Ramakanth had flip flopped on his words. During the course of the investigation, he witnessed against Jagan, but in the recent sakshi media interview, he spoke for the accused. This has triggered the ire of CBI, which other wise wouldn’t care if some one else ( than a witness) talks in media. Sakshi media appears to be blundered by interviewing one of the prime witnesses in Jagan’s case when case is in trial phase.
Role of P.Ramakanth Reddy during the investigation:
P.Ramakanth Reddy is a 1973 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer who was Finance Secretary and later became Chief Secretary during Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy’s regime.He is prime witness in Vanpic case (4th Charge sheet) and Indu Tech Zone (9th charge sheet) who mentioned that misdeeds transpired.
The CBI petition reads that,during the course of investigation Ramakanth Reddy clearly pointed out the irregularities committed in processing the files which were against the principals of the rules of business and the appurtenant responsibilities of the respective public servants on violation.
Ramakanth Reddy’s Sakshi Interview:
The interview was pre-recorded and aired on Sakshi News Channel and the contents have been published in Sakshi Daily Newspaper on 26th Feb 2017. The former IAS officer said that Jagan never wrote a letter or got in touch with him over phone seeking favours.In his interview Ramakanth stated that he asked then CBI JD two questions whose responses made him say “I don’t trust your investigation”. As per his observations CBI is unaware of the rules and procedures of AP secretariat or the Chief Secretaries.
CBI Petition on cancellation of bail to Jagan:
The CBI in its latest petition clearly stated that Jagan has been delaying the trail at this stage of arguments on charges by giving various reasons to prolong the proceedings on one pretext or the other. Further, CBI accused Jagan has influenced or dissuaded Mr P.Ramakanth Reddy.
M/S Jagathi Publications which is listed as accused in the case,interviewed the witness Ramakanth Reddy. CBI said that the witness made unjustified observations and comments, conflicting with the statements given before CBI. It also said that such statements will damage the course of pending trial against Y.S Jagan and others. They mentioned that the CS undoubtedly stated that the cases would not withstand the judicial scrutiny
CBI termed the statements of Ramakanth regarding the mode of investigation and fate of the case as “unwarranted”.
As Jagan was released on conditional bail,the second condition of the bail states “The Petitioner/A1 shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the court or to any other authority”
Since Ramakanth is main witness in the two charge sheets against Jagan, by telecasting and publishing the interview, the YCP leader has violated the second condition of the bail, which subsequently led to filing of the petition by CBI.
Mr.Jaganmohan Reddy is in trouble clearly, it will be an interesting legal battle for him next two three weeks.
Raghuveera for CBI Probe Against Naidu and KCR
APCC president N Raghuvira Reddy today urged governor to recommend the cash-for-vote and telephone tapping cases for a high-level inquiry by an organization like CBI or a sitting Judge.
As chief ministers of two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were involved in the cases, they merit a central probe, he said in a letter written to ESL Narasimhan, who is the joint governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
He said both, AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar, were personally involved in the cases.
An impartial inquiry would be possible only when the governor assumes special powers under Section 8 of the State Reorganization Act-2014, he said in the letter.
