Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday dismissed a bail petition filed by YSR Congress Party President and Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in an alleged disproportionate assets case.
Jagan, the key accused in the assets case, was arrested on May 27 and currently lodged in Chanchalguda Jail for the last 37 days.
Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu, after hearing the arguments from Supreme Court senior advocate Ram Jethamalani on behalf of Jagan and from the CBI counsel Ashok Bhan on June 28, had reserved the orders for Wednesday.
The Judge, agreeing the Investigating agency’s plea that Jagan may tamper the evidence if he was granted bail, passed the order to this effect.
Jagan had earlier assured the court that he would continue his cooperation and support to the probing agency in the investigations if released on bail.
His’s lawyers had moved the High Court for bail on June 21.
In the bail petition, Jagan had contended that he had not committed any crime that was being attributed to him by the CBI and also that the investigating agency had not produced any evidence that he was influencing the witnesses so far.
Jagan’s judicial remand will come up for review at the Nampally Special CBI court which is hearing the corruption case against him. He had been remanded in custody till on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed another charge sheet in the Principal Special CBI court relating to the YSR Congress Party Chief disproportionate assets case.
The charge sheet was a supplementary one mentioning the activities of Hetro, Arbindo Drugs and other companies which had figured in the first charge sheet filed in the court by the investigating agency on March 31, as the companies had allegedly invested a bribe of Rs 35 crore in Jagan’s firms.
Charges have also been framed against the companies in on Wednesday’s chargeh sheet under sections 9, 11 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Probe agency had already filed the second and third chargesheets in the court on April 23 and May 7.
In three three charge sheets filed against Mr Reddy and others, the CBI had alleged that he and his father and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy hatched a conspiracy to defraud the government, and the state government granted some favours to certain firms, which made investments in Jagan’s businesses as a quid pro quo.
The CBI Court will deliver its verdict on the ED’s petition on July 6 to question Jagan in the Chanchalguda Jail as part of the investigation it taken up under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management ACt (FEMA) after it had obtained the copy of first charge sheet and statements of the witnesses from the CBI after the court allowed them. (UNI)