TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (5) TMI 920
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....ode, 1860 (for short 'IPC') and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (in short "the PC Act") against Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1), Member of Parliament and 73 others. 5) The appellant-Nimmagadda Prasad was named as an accused at Sl. No. 12 in the FIR dated 17.08.2011 (after the chargesheet was framed, he was arrayed as A-3 and hereinafter, he will be referred to as A-3). It is further seen that during the course of investigation, the appellant was arrested on 15.05.2012 for his involvement and complicity in the case and presently, he is in judicial custody. 6) After filing two successive bail applications before the trial Court which ended in dismissal, the appellant moved the High Court for enlarging him on bail on 06.09.2012 by filing Criminal Petition No. 6732 of 2012. The High Court, taking note of serious nature of the offence and having regard to personal and financial clout of the appellant (A-3) and finding that it cannot be ruled out that witnesses cannot be influenced by A-3 in case he is released on bail at this stage and also taking note of the submission of the Special Public Prosecutor that the investigation of t....
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.... stated that the allegations in the FIR against the appellant is that the Government of Andhra Pradesh awarded VANPIC (Vodarevu and Nizampatnam Port Industrial Corridor) Project to the present appellant (A-3) and allotted more than 15,000 acres of land in Prakasam and Guntur Districts to the companies promoted by the appellant in violation of all the laws, rules and norms and granted several concessions. As a quid pro quo, the appellant invested in the following companies, viz., M/s Carmel Asia Holdings Pvt. Ltd., M/s Bharathi Cements, M/s Jagathi Publications Pvt. Ltd., M/s Silicon Builders, M/s Sandur Power Company etc. belonging to Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, s/o the then Chief Minister, late Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. 12) It is also brought to our notice that the investigation into the above said allegations revealed that during the period between 2006 and 2009, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, led by the then Chief Minister late Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy extended many undue favours to the appellant by abusing his official position and thereby, an extent of 18878 acres was allotted in his favour, in return, A-3 paid illegal gratifications amounting to Rs. 854.50 crores to Y.S. ....
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..... Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1), directing A-1 to apply for bail only after completion of the investigation in seven issues including Indus Projects Ltd. and Lepakshi Knowledge Hub Private Ltd. Mr. Ashok Bhan, by drawing our attention to the said order submitted that those directions are also applicable to Nimmagadda Prasad (A-3) - appellant herein, who was also a Director in M/s Indus Projects Ltd. which is under active investigation. 18) From the status report, it is also brought to our notice that during the year 2008-09, the Government of Andhra Pradesh alienated 8,844 acres of land in Ananthapur District in favour of M/s Lepakshi Knowledge Hub Private Limited, a newly incorporated company, with more exemptions/subsidies at a cost ranging between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,75,000 per acre. It is also highlighted that files were processed despite serious objections by the Finance Department about (i) the financial implications of the proposed concessions proposed on the State exchequer, (ii) company's financial standing; lack of credibility in terms of their past experience of the fledging company incorporated in July, 2008; and (iii) absence of safety clauses in the proposed Memorandum of ....
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....er) and M/s Embassy Group (Technical Member) and would form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). In this regard, it is pointed out that M/s Indus Techzone Pvt. Ltd., projected as SPV, is fully owned by M/s Indus Projects Ltd. While allotting 250 acres of prime land at Shamshabad, near new International Airport of Hyderabad, several exemptions such as stamp-duty and registration expenses, subsidized power, all external infrastructures up to the boundary of SEZ, tax exemptions/holiday were provided under ICT Policy and SEZ Act, 2005 justifying that the project would create 45,000 new jobs. In addition, land worth about Rs. 1 crore per acre was given at a price of Rs. 20 lakh per acre. It is further pointed out that the said project has to be completed within five years of allotment of land which ended in the year 2011-2012, however, except developing a skeleton structure of about 7.50 lakh SFT against 45 lakh SFT, M/s Indus Techzone Pvt. Ltd. has failed to develop the project and has not created any new employment so far. 22) It is also pointed out that M/s Indus Techzone Pvt. Ltd., availed Rs. 175 crores of loans by mortgaging about 75 acres of land which is shown to have been spent fo....
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.... Considering all these developments, taking note of various details furnished in the Status Report dated 30.04.2013, we are of the view that though the appellant is in custody for nearly 11 months, at the same time, the claim of the premier investigating agency cannot be underestimated. As pointed out by the CBI, if ultimately it is established, it is a grave economic offence of alienating prime lands to selected private companies/individuals under the garb of development using deceptive means resulting in wrongful ownership and control of material resources detrimental to the common good. Further, in order to establish all those events, it is the claim of the CBI that documents have to be obtained from different banks, other private companies/individuals, who facilitated the said diversion of funds. In addition to the same, public servants involved in processing of government files have to be examined apart from private persons/companies. A higher officer of the investigating agency, namely, DIG of Police, CBI assured this Court that further investigation is being carried out at a faster pace and is expected to be completed within six months. 26) Unfortunately, in the last few ye....