The Chanchalguda central prison will continue to be the home of YSR Congress leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for the next few months, perhaps till March 2013, with the Supreme Court on Friday dismissing the MP’s bail petition in the disproportionate assets case against him.
Already facing heat from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which attached some of his properties Thursday, the denial of bail by the apex court smashed hopes harboured by his party of him being released after four months in jail.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s lawyers are contemplating a review petition in the Supreme Court. Denying him bail, judges Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai ruled that the MP can apply for bail only after the CBI completes its investigation of all the seven other cases lodged against him.
“The contours are much larger,” the bench observed.
The CBI told the court it would complete its investigations by March 31, 2013, and vouched it would now conduct the probe much more expeditiously.
Additional solicitor-general Mohan Parasaran and senior counsel Ashok Bhan, appearing for the agency, said these cases have international ramifications and so letters rogatory have been despatched to various countries.
Responding to queries from the bench, Parasaran said the wealth accumulated by Jagan Mohan Reddy and his associates as per the four chargesheets filed against him amounted to more than Rs 3,000 crore.
He said the case against the MP “is a very serious economic offence that is unparallelled. The accused is also known for his political prowess. (He is) so influential that (he) can influence witnesses even while being inside".
Countering Parasaran’s argument, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s counsel Gopal Subramaniam expressed apprehension that it would take years for the CBI to complete the investigations.
‘’They may take 20 years to complete the process of issuing letter rogatories. It has happened in several cases,” he said. The court, however, said in such a case Jagan can always come back to the court, and declined to modify its order.
As a last-ditch effort, Subramaniam sought the court’s permission to withdraw the bail petition as the court declined to entertain it. According to the CBI, Jagan made several attempts to influence witnesses, did not cooperate with the investigators, attempted to stifle the probe and initiated frivolous proceedings.
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