Hyderabad, Aug 2 : The AP High Court on Tuesday was not inclined to insist that the state government spell out its stand on petitions seeking a CBI probe into alleged amassing of wealth by the YSR Congress president, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Mr K.T.S. Tulsi, senior counsel appearing for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, contended that the fate and political future of his client depended on the stand being taken by the government as the allegations have been levelled against him by none other than a member of the present council of ministers.
Mr Tulsi also pointed out that none of the Government Orders giving land allotments to firms associated with Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy have been challenged and cautioned that the High Court should be careful when such wild and reckless allegations are made.
Jagan says plea against him has political slant
Mr K.T.S. Tulsi, senior counsel appearing for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, said if an investigation was ordered on him, nearly 75 per cent of the Cabinet will be under investigation.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Nisar Ahmad Kakru and Justice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar of the AP High Court was hearing the suo motu plea based on a letter by Mr P. Shankar Rao, the textiles minister alleging disproportionate assets of Mr Jagan.While urging the bench to insist that the government spell out its stand, Mr Tulsi said it cannot hide behind the court to gain credibility for its baseless allegations.
Indicating disinclination of the bench to insist that the state spells out its stand, Chief Justice Kakru said, “We issued notice to the government and we granted time but it did not respond.”
Mr Tulsi’s contention was that the petitions against his client were political and personal and therefore should not be entertained, and based on such pleas, the court cannot order a probe.He said a day after the decision of his client to quit the Congress, the letter of the MLA (Mr Shankar Rao) had landed in the High Court with an intention to compel his client not to resign from the party.
Mr Tulsi alleged that Mr Shankar Rao was rewarded with a Cabinet berth just a week after writing the letter.Mr Tulsi argued that the investors paid a premium to buy shares in Mr Jagan’s firms, including Bharati Cements and Jagati Publications, after following the progress and success of his ventures.
He said the Vanpic project was actually awarded to the Kingdom of Ras-al-Khaima, which in turn roped in Mr N. Prasad, ex-promoter of Matrix Laboratories, as a local partner.
Mr L. Nageswara Rao, senior counsel for Mr N. Prasad objected to the petitioners terming the Vanpic project illegal. He said after filing the writs the state did not scrap the project nor did it change any earlier policy under which such projects were awarded.
The counsels representing other respondent firms in the pleas told the court that their clients had made investments only on business considerations.
No comments:
Post a Comment