ED repeats CBI’s ridiculous charges for attachment

The Enforcement Directorate note, issued on Oct 4 detailing the attachment of properties in the case related to the investments in the companies of YSRCP President Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy, has pointed out that Hetero and Aurobindo had benefited themselves to the tune of Rs.8.6 Cr and Rs.12.90 Cr respectively totaling to an amount of Rs.21.5 Cr in return for investments of Rs.29.50 Cr in Jagan-owned companies. 

However, one is at a loss to understand as to how these companies could have invested Rs.29.50 Cr when they got a benefit of Rs.21.50 Cr together. Would any investing company worth its salt invest more for lesser benefit when it is a quid-pro-quo arrangement? Why can’t CBI or ED think of the investments in terms of real investments in a media company expecting profits in future? 

To go deep into the details, the then APIIC MD Mr. B.P.Acharya proposed in 2006 that 250 acres out of the 950 acres earmarked for Green Industrial Park should be allotted for SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and the proposal was okayed by the Centre on Oct 27, 2006. 

The Price Fixation Committee of the APIIC has directed the officials to collect Rs.15 lakh per acre while allotting the land for SEZ. On Nov 17, 2006, Hetero Drugs Ltd Director Srinivasa Reddy and Aurobindo Pharma Director Nityananda Reddy had written to the APIIC requesting allotment of 75 acres each at the rate of Rs.7 lakh per acre. 

The request was accepted and the land was allotted for the two companies at the rate of Rs.7 lakh. “The Government has suffered a loss of Rs. 12 Cr over the allotment of 150 acres to the two companies at the rate of Rs.7 lakh,” said CBI in its first charge sheet. 

The CBI also said in its first charge sheet that the Government has suffered another loss of Rs.4.3 Cr after the Aurobindo, which had been allotted 33.33 acres at Pasa Mylaram in Medak district, transferred the land to its subsidiary company Trident Life Sciences. 

It must be noted that any government would naturally allot land at lesser prices to the industrialists for encouraging speedy growth of industries. The Government allotted the land to these two companies as the anchor units developed by them would lead to further growth of the industry in the area. 

But surprisingly CBI, which forgot all these practical issues, described the investments as quid-pro-quo. Will any body invest more for lesser amounts of benefit in case of a quid-pro-quo? The way CBI has repeated the allegations of Congress MLA Sankara Rao and the TDP leaders and the way ED has repeated the same will clearly establish that the investigating agencies are dancing to the tune of political bosses. 

(Updated on Oct 5, 2012)