‘Jagan got Rs. 35 cr. bribe from 3 companies’

CBI says the companies invested in Jagan’s firms in lieu of lands allotted at Jadcherla and Nakkalapalli

Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has charged him with receiving about Rs. 35 crore as bribe from three companies in return for helping them get favours from the then government headed by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. It was one of the fresh charges levelled against Mr. Jagan by the investigating agency under Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the supplementary charge-sheet filed in the case and submitted to the Principal Special Court for CBI Cases here on Tuesday. Company

The CBI has alleged that the companies were allotted lands in Special Economic Zones at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district and at Nakkalapalli in Visakhapatnam district in lieu of investments they made in Jagan Group companies.

Fresh investigation

In its fresh investigation report, the CBI contended that funds invested by the three companies were not genuine investments but they were bribe given in gratification of favours received from the government led by Mr. Jagan’s father. Mr. Jagan had influenced his father, a public servant, to benefit the companies to get investments into his firms, it alleged.

The Hetero Group had invested Rs. 4 crore in Jagati Publications and another Rs. 13.25 crore in Janani Infrastructure, a Jagan Group firm, and in return got about 240 acres land allotted in Nakkalapalli and Jadcherla SEZs, the CBI explained. Similarly, Aurobindo Pharma got 75 acres land allotted in lieu of Rs. 10 crore investment and Trident Life Sciences too got some land allotted, both in Jadcherla SEZ, in return of Rs. 7 crore in Jagan Group companies.

Supplementary

The supplementary charge-sheet also mentioned that J. Prabhakaran of Jagadeesan & Co., a Chennai-based auditing firm, had told in his statement recorded before a magistrate under Section 161 of the CrPC that they had valuated Jagati Publications at Rs. 146 crore in 2006 as a subsidiary of a conglomerate and it was valued at Rs. 3,400 crore as an independent firm in 2007-08 based on the information provided by the company at the behest of Mr. Jagan and another accused V. Vijay Sai Reddy.

The same was endorsed by Harish C. Kamath, a director of Jagati, in his witness statement, the CBI stated.