SC rejects Jaganmohan Reddy's plea against HC order for CBI probe

NEW DELHI: The deck has been cleared for CBI to probe into the assets amassed by Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy during his father's term as Andhra Pradesh chief minister. The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea of the former Congressman against a Andhra Pradesh High Court order directing the CBI to conduct a probe into his alleged disproportionate assets.

The high court on August 10 ordered CBI to take action against Reddy after the state Handlooms and Textile Minister P Shankar Rao had filed a petition in the court. Rao alleged that Jagan's income rose from Rs 11 lakh in 2004 to Rs 43,000 crore by the time of his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy's death in 2009

On July 22, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the high court's order for a preliminary CBI inquiry to ascertain if Jagan owns assets disproportionate to his income.

In his petition, Rao had sought a CBI inquiry into the companies that had invested in Jagan's businesses to allegedly win favours in the form of land allotments and mining leases from the then YSR government.

The high court had set aside the arguments of Jagan's counsel that the petitioner has political vendetta against him and said the contention of the petitioner needs to be appreciated.

Meanwhile, CBI may ask the Enforcement Directorate to investigate the alleged money-laundering by two Mauritian firms for a power project in which Jagan.

The agency is understood to be scrutinising the transactions made by Jagan with the two Mauritian firms as it is alleged that these companies were used to route funds into the country to increase the MP's stake in a Bangalore-based power company, sources said.

The agency might write to ED to look into the allegations of money laundering and forex violations in the transaction of these firms with the power company, sources said.

The power project itself is under the scrutiny of CBI as the complainant has alleged that Jagan raised Rs 797 crore for the project, which is worth Rs 150 crore, after taking over from its promoters during his father's tenure as Chief Minister in 2001, they said.