Hyderabad: The designated special court for Enforcement Directorate cases in Hyderabad on Saturday issued summons to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to appear before it on January 11 in connection with his disproportionate assets case.
The special court has issued summons in the case wherein Hetero and Aurobindo Pharma have been accused of investing crores of rupees in Jagathi Publications, the media house floated by Jagan. The investments were allegedly in lieu of 150 acres land allotted to them in the Pharma Special Economic Zone at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district by Jagan’s late father Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who was then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.
While CBI filed 11 chargesheets, ED filed six chargesheets against Jagan, who is also chief of the YSR Congress party. All the cases are related to investments made by certain persons and companies in Jagathi Publications.
Allegations are that Hetero Group of Companies, popularly known as Hetero Drugs, invested Rs. 4.5 crore in Jagathi Publications by buying shares of Rs. 10 at a premium of Rs. 350 per share. It also invested Rs. 13.25 crore in Janani Infrastructure by buying its shares at a premium of Rs. 102. Aurobindo Pharma invested Rs 10 crore in Jagathi Publications and Janani Infrastructure.
The ED cases were originally being heard by a metropolitan sessions judge court in Nampally, where the ED had filed a charge sheet in January 2016. Recently, following directions of the High Court, the case has been shifted to the special court for CBI and ED cases.
While probing the case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs. 51 crore belonging to these pharma companies. These companies then moved the appellate tribunal to get their attached properties released. But the tribunal asked them to make cash deposits that have an equal worth of their respective attachments.
Apart from Jagan, the ED special court has also issued summons to YSR party general secretary V, Vijay Sai Reddy, B. P. Acharya, retired IAS officer, Hetero Group of Companies’ director M. Srinivasa Reddy, Aurobindo Pharma managing director K. Nityananda Reddy and Trident Life Sciences’ former managing director P. Sharat Chandra Reddy.
