The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from six Andhra Pradesh ministers and eight IAS officers for allegedly helping MP Y Jagan Mohan Reddy to acquire ill-gotten wealth during the regime of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as chief minister of the state.
A Bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari issued notices to the ministers and IAS officers and sought their stands on the special leave petition filed by advocate Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy of Nellore.
The ministers against whom notices were issued are J Geeta Reddy, Dharmana Prasada Rao, Sabita Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Kanna Lakshminarayana and Mopidevi Venkatarmana Rao.
On August 10, 2011, the High Court had directed the CBI to register a case and investigate the assets of Jagan and his companies. The High Court C had acted on a public interest litigation filed by state Handlooms and Textile Minister P Shankar Rao, alleging that Jagan's assets had risen from Rs 11 lakh in 2004 to Rs 43,000 crore by the time of his father's death in 2009.
As the bypolls to seven Assembly segments are scheduled to be held on March 18, the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh appears to be in a bind over the Supreme Court’s notices issued on Monday.
The Kiran Kumar Reddy government scrambled to safety at the state Assembly on Monday with the Opposition demanding suspension of all the ministers in question by adjourning the House without any announcement.
“The next Cabinet meeting of the state government will be held in Chanchalguda Jail,” said Payyavula Keshav of Telugudesam after the Opposition failed to elicit an answer from the beleaguered Congress government.
“The state government is fully ready to take up any challenge, politically or legally. The ministers received only notices and that doesn’t mean they’re tainted. The Union government will take care of the issue of the IAS officers,” the chief minister told the Assembly before the adjournment of the session.
The YSR Congress Party welcomed the SC’s decision and said that their stand had been vindicated. Addressing a press conference, former advisor to YSR government C P Somayajulu, said: “All these days, the ministers who shared power with late YSR and were collectively responsible for the cabinet decisions have been running away from justice.”