CBI chargesheets N Srinivasan, others in Jagan case

Srinivasan accused of investing over Rs 140 crore in various firms floated by Jagan Mohan Reddy

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against India Cements Managing Director N Srinivasan in the alleged quid pro quo investment case involving jailed Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) Member of Parliament Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Srinivasan was accused of investing over Rs 140 crore in various firms floated by Jagan Mohan Reddy in exchange for the benefits extended to his company in terms of water and land allocation by the state government when his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister.

Besides India Cements, the investigative agency has filed two separate charge sheets against two more cement companies, AP-based Penna Cements and Raghuram Cements (currently Bharti Cements).

While Penna Cements was owned by Penna Pratap Reddy, who was also named in the chargesheet, Bharati Cement was promoted by Jagan Mohan Reddy himself.

The charge sheet involving the India Cements also named the two serving senior IAS officers, namely special chief secretary, environment and forests M Samuel and principal secretary of irrigation department Adityanath Das.

So far about 9 charge sheets, including the latest ones, were filed in the two- year-old quid pro investments case in which Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was named as the accused number one. Each chargesheet had dealt with a set of government decisions issued in favour of a particular company or companies and their respective investments in the firms promoted by Jagan Mohan Reddy. Dalmia Cement and its managing director was figured in one of the earlier charge sheets.

The investigative agency is expected to file a couple of more charge sheets in the CBI special court on Wednesday in the same case, which according to the legal circles, may  mark the conclusion of the investigation. Conclusion of investigation will allow Jagan, who has been in jail for 16 months, to move the court for bail.
 
India Cements had invested about Rs 40 crore in Jagathi Publications, which owns a Telugu newspaper and a Telugu television news channel under the name Sakshi, and over Rs 100 crore in other firms including Bharathi Cements originally promoted by the jailed MP.

CBI linked these investments to the orders issued by the state government in the year 2008 through which the company was given permission to draw an additional 1 million gallons of water from Krishna river in addition to extension of lease on lands that were already in possession of the company.

Earlier, India Cements had denied the CBI contention in relation to the investments and the government decisions stating that there was no quid pro quo involved in these decisions. The company maintained that the water allocation towards the expansion of India Cements plants in the state was perfectly in line with the AP Industrial Promotion Policy. N Srinivasan was first questioned by the CBI as part of its investigation into the case in June last year.

Penna Cements, another accused in the case, was promoted by P Pratap Reddy who was a close confidante and  industrial friend of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, according to CBI. During his tenure the company had got allocation of close to 3,000 acres of land, through allotment of land, fresh limestone leases and the transfer of existing mining leases.

 Pratap Reddy's firm Pioneer Infrastructure Holdings Limited had invested Rs 23 crore in Carmel Asia Holdings Private Limited and Rs 45 crore in Jagathi Publications Private Limited belonging to YSR's son.

The YSR  government had also granted bauxite reserves to Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) which had set up a aluminium refinery project in Visakhapatnam in collaboration with Penna group.

 
Bharathi Cements, which had set up a 5 million tonne cement plant in YSR's home district of Kadapa, was promoted by Jagan Mohan Reddy who later sold his stake to French company Vicat along with Nimmagadda Prasad, one of the investors in the company.