A team of Enforcement Directorate will examine Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy for 14 days from Saturday on charges of money laundering inside the Chanchalguda central jail.
The ED finally got the permission to quiz Jagan daily from 10 a. m. to 5 p.m. from the principal court for CBI cases. He will be allowed the assistance of his advocate during the examination. Incidentally, he will be questioned not in his individual capacity but as ex-director and chairman of Jagathi Publications.
The court based its order on High Court giving its approval to the ED to question former Satyam Computer chairman B. Ramalinga Raju when he was lodged in jail in similar circumstances in 2009.
Responding to the objection of Jagan that he had nothing to do with Jagathi Publications as it was now being represented by secretary C.P.N. Karthik, the court endorsed the view of ED that he was the key person who knew about the flow of funds into the company by way of quid-pro-quo benefits. Therefore, he was the right person to be examined.
The court also said it was true that Mr. Karthik was appointed as the company representative with its permission but that did not erase the power of ED to question ‘any person’ of its choice. In this context, the court recalled ED’s counsel stating that the defence could not suggest or direct whom to examine.
Moreover, a company was allowed to have a representative for the limited purpose of attending an inquiry or trial before a court of law. What was sought by ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was appearance for investigation by a particular person who was supposed to know the crucial facts of the case. Answering another objection that the ED did not show any prima facie material to substantiate its claim for examination of Jagan, the court said the charge-sheets filed by CBI in the cases against him were sufficient prima facie evidence for ED to begin investigation. The truth or otherwise of these allegations could be decided after the trial.
