Jagan gets bail, to be freed today

Y S R Congress party President and MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was on Monday granted conditional bail by the special CBI court here, after nearly 16 months in jail for alleged possession of disproportionate assets.

The bail came after the CBI, which probed the case, informed the court that it had completed the investigations in accordance with the direction of the High Court. The investigating agency told the court that it found no evidence of the  charges against eight private companies for alleged investments in Jagan’s business.

The CBI said that it could not establish a quid pro quo by Jagan and others in Sandur power, Carmel Asia, Jubilee Media Communications, R R Global Energies, Sarswathi Power and Industries, Mantri Developers, Classic Realty and PVP Business Ventures.

The CBI submitted to the CBI court  that it had handed over the investigation into 16 suitcase companies of Kolkata to the Enforcement Directorate and the IT department for further investigation.

The judge of the special court, Durga Prasada Rao, granted bail on condition of furnishing two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each and asked the Kadapa MP not to leave the city without the court’s permission. He will be released from  Central Jail here on Tuesday.

The move came after the completion of the four-month time-frame set by the Supreme Court in May this year for the CBI to complete the investigation into the alleged illegal assets case against the 40-year-old industrialist turned politician.

Jagan was sent to jail on May 28, 2012 following his arrest by the CBI. The probe agency has filed 10 charge sheets in the high profile case, naming over 70 people as accused, including four Congress ministers and several senior officials.

The crux of the charges against Jagan, the richest member of the present Lok Sabha, is that he had misused the official position of his father and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, during 2004-09 to attract investments in his business ventures in return for doling out favours such as land allotments, irrigation contracts and mining leases.

However, Jagan has denied the quid pro quo charges and described the case as witch-hunting and a vindictive exercise because he quit the Congress in 2011 and floated his own party to carry forward the ideals of his charismatic father.

A majority of the present ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet were also part of the YSR cabinet which had issued controversial orders, allotting land, granting mining licences and other favours to benefit Jagan.

One of them, M Venkata Ramana, is already in jail following his arrest in a case pertaining to the allotment of land to a port development project. Three other ministers—P Sabita Indra Reddy, Dr J Geetha Reddy and D Prasada Rao—whose names figured in the earlier charge sheets have since quit their posts. All the tainted ministers were members of the YSR cabinet which had allegedly doled out the favours.

The news of Jagan’s  bail  has  been received with jubilation by the YSRC rank and file across the state and social media went viral since morning. Reports from 13 Seemandhra districts, YSRC headquarters, his Lotus Pond residence and around Nampally court complex here also show that there was high voltage betting on Jagan’s bail and release in his Kadapa district and East Godavari district.

According to political observers, Jagan’s release on bail could have a profound impact at a time when the state is in the grip of turmoil over the United Progressive Alliance’s decision to carve out Telangana state.

His fledgling YSR Congress party is expected to emerge as a dominant player in the region, having thrown its weight behind the ongoing anti-bifurcation agitation in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions, jointly referred to as Seemandhra.