Justice S. Govindarajulu of the A.P. High Court on Thursday granted conditional bail to Koneru Rajendra Prasad, industrialist and one of the accused in the Emaar township scam.
The judge allowed the petition filed by Prasad who contended that the entire investigation into the case was already over and the questioning by the Enforcement Directorate was also completed.
The judge took into consideration the fact that some money was recovered and steps were being initiated for attachment of properties of the petitioner by the ED while granting the bail. The judge directed Prasad to furnish two sureties for Rs.5 lakh each and deposit his passport in the trial court.
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Prasad was expected to be released from Chanchalguda central jail on Friday as the order of the High Court could not be delivered to the trial court on Thursday. He was arrested on November 4 last year, after which he was allowed to leave the jail premises on only one occasion to fulfil his ‘deeksha’ at Sabarimala.
The CBI has charged Prasad with collecting Rs.96 crore in excess of the book price from villa plot buyers in Emaar township at Nanakramguda here and not accounting for the same. The book price was Rs.5,000 a square yard, but an amount ranging from Rs.4,000 to Rs.45,000 more was raised from the buyers during 2005-10.
Prasad was instrumental in the project going to Dubai-based Emaar Properties PJSC whose chairman Mohammed Ali Alabbar was close to him as the former had several business interests in UAE for long.
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No bail for Rajagopal
Meanwhile, the judge dismissed a petition filed by V.D. Rajagopal, former Director of Mines and Geology, seeking bail in the illegal mining case. The judge observed that the petitioner could not be released on bail at this stage of investigation.