: The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday informed the Hyderabad High Court that it is ready to hand over the cases pertaining to the AgriGold consortium to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Telangana government said that it would report back to the HC on Tuesday.
The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt was hearing the cases filed by depositors who were duped by the AgriGold consortium and Akshay Gold companies. The Bench did not appreciate the attitude of the AgriGold management which had not deposited Rs. 25 lakh for the expenses of the special committee appointed by the High Court.
The committee, headed by a retired High Court judge, is to sell the properties of the consortium in open e-auction so that the depositors can be paid the money.
The Bench granted time up to Tuesday for the deposit by AgriGold and the two State governments to produce the letter expressing willingness for the transfer of the cases to the CBI.
A.P. Advocate-General Dammalapati Srinivas said the government felt that handing over the case to the CBI should not stall the process initiated by the court to sell the properties.
When L. Ravichander, senior counsel for AgriGold, tried to explain that a scheme to revive the company was being planned, the Bench was not happy. The Bench reminded that many depositors committed suicide as the company had failed to repay the money. Mr. Ravichander said that the process of auctioning the properties had not made much headway and he was trying to place an alternative proposal. The Bench narrated the sequence of events from the day of filing the case and said that the chairman had misled the court.
