In connection with irregularities in land allotment to pharma firms, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress President Jaganmohan Reddy has been summoned to appear before a special Enforcement Directorate court in Hyderabad on 11 January.
Other than Jaganmohan Reddy, Vijay Sai Reddy, a Rajya Sabha MP from the ruling YSR Congress, and the heads of the pharma firms – Srinivasa Reddy (director of Hetero Drugs), Nithyananda Reddy (managing director of Aurobindo) and Sarath Chandra Reddy (director of Trident Life Sciences) – have also been summoned, NDTV reported.
ED is looking into allegations of disproportionate income and ‘quid pro quo’ investments between 2004 and 2009. The allegation is that the firms invested in companies linked to Jagan Reddy are in exchange for land in the Special Economic Zone. Hetero and Aurobindo pharma companies were accused of investing ₹27.25 crore in Jagathi Publications, the media house floated by Jagan, in lieu of the land allotment of 150 acres made to them at Pharma Special Economic Zone at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district, by his father and former chief minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy during the latter’s regime between 2004 and 2009, Hindustan Times reported.
The Chief Minister was directed to appear before the Hyderabad court after the case was transferred from a local court in Nampally, where the central agency filed a charge sheet in 2016. The case was transferred because it involved alleged offences under the Money Laundering Act.
The special court is now hearing all six charge sheets filed by ED as well as the CBI, which filed another 11 separate charge sheets in the case.
In January 2020, Reddy had appeared before the Nampally court. The judge had rejected an exemption plea filed by him and directed him to appear in person. This was his first appearance in court since he was sowrn in as CM on May 20, 2019.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)