SC rejects Jagan's bail plea

The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed the bail petition of YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly called Jagan, in a case of disproportionate assets and said his release could hamper the probe against him.

The apex court also cancelled the bail of Jagan's auditor Vijay Sai Reddy and directed him to surrender by June 5, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel Ashok Bhan told reporters outside the Supreme Court.

A division bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and M.Y. Iqbal also rejected the bail plea of industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, an accused in the case.

The Supreme Court directed the CBI to complete its investigations in four months.

Jagan, a Lok Sabha member from Kadapa, was arrested by the CBI on May 27 last year on charges of amassing huge wealth by doling out favours to individuals and companies who invested in his business when his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Bhan said the court observed that Jagan was involved in the greatest scam and that he had enriched himself and deprived society of legitimate rights of development. "The Supreme Court took serious view of this and observed that enriching an individual or a group of individuals is not permissible under law and he has to suffer and remain in jail for some more time," he said.

Terming Jagan the main accused and main beneficiary of the scam money, the court rejected the bail plea on the ground that being an influential politician, he may hamper the investigations.

"I feel excited. The rule of law has prevailed. The Supreme Court has upheld the rule of law. All rumours floated by the accused are blunted and nailed now," Bhan said.

The court also noted that there was an enormous increase in while collar crimes, which has serious repercussions on the economy of the country.

On Vijay Sai Reddy, the court quashed the order of the high court, which had upheld the bail granted to him last year by the trial court. The apex court gave him time to surrender to enable him to attend his daughter's marriage on May 26.

The bench asked him to surrender by May 30 but, on the request by his lawyer, allowed him time till June 5.

The court observed that Vijay Sai Reddy was not an ordinary chartered accountant but the main brain behind the scam.

Bhan had argued that the Vijay Sai Reddy was granted bail on irrelevant considerations.