Telangana HC reserves order in Jagan family\'s case linked to money laundering

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday reserved its orders in the petitions filed by Jagathi Publications owned by AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s family, auditor V. Vijayasai Reddy, and Carmel Asia Pvt Ltd, in a quid pro quo case.

They urged the court to quash the proceedings before the designated ED/CBI special court here, which had decided to hear the cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) first and those registered by the CBI, later.

The contentions of the Jagathi Publications and its auditor was that the ED had registered the cases on the basis of the charges filed earlier by the CBI, which stated that the fraud was committed in relation to the investments made in the Jagathi group.

The petitioners’ contention was also that the trial court did not first decided whether or not a fraud occurred. So it was unfair to first hold the trial of the ED cases, the petitioners contended.

ED counsel Suryakaran Reddy said the onus of proof will be on the investigating authorities in the cases they of fraud or any other crime. In money laundering cases, the burden of proof will lie on the accused.

He explained that an amendment in 2019 allows holding of the trial in money laundering cases first without waiting for the main case to be tried.