The Enforcement Directorate has moved the Telangana High Court seeking a speedy, day-to-day trial in money laundering cases filed against former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and others. It has also sought the personal appearance of all the accused in the prosecution complaints filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency said the cases have remained at a preliminary stage for years because discharge petitions are still pending before the Special Court for CBI cases in Hyderabad. According to the ED, this has delayed further progress even though cognisance has already been taken in all nine prosecution complaints filed between 2016 and 2021.
The ED investigation began on the basis of a CBI FIR against the YSR Congress president and 73 others over alleged quid pro quo investments in his companies. The probe relates to allegations of government favours to large corporates and individuals, and the receipt of large investments in companies linked to Jagan and his family members as part of a quid pro quo arrangement for favours allegedly extended by the Andhra Pradesh government during the chief ministership of his father, late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
In a statement on Saturday, the ED said the pendency of the discharge petitions had kept the complaints at a preliminary stage. It said there had been no significant progress in the proceedings before the CBI Special Court even after several years from the date cognisance was taken. The agency said the discharge petitions were heard by the Special Court but had not yet been decided because of the transfer of presiding officers and other reasons. “The ED, through the right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, approached the Telangana High Court (on September 23) with the prayer to direct the criminal justice system to ensure that proceedings are to be conducted with reasonable expedition,” it said.
The agency said the proceedings in Jagan’s case had remained pending for nearly 10 years and that the sequence of events showed the absence of reasonable expedition in the prosecution of the matter. “To conduct a speedy and day-to-day hearing / trial of the prosecutions complaints filed along with discharge petitions mentioned, in the interest of justice, the writ petition was filed before the High Court,” the ED said. It also said its investigation had found that large investments were made by various companies and individuals through share subscriptions at very high rates in companies such as Bharati Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd, Jagati Publications Ltd and Janani Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, which it said were related to Jagan and his family members.
In sum, the ED has asked the Telangana High Court to ensure faster proceedings in the PMLA cases against Jagan and others, saying the matter has seen little progress for years while discharge petitions remain undecided.
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