Hyderabad:
The Supreme Court today has said six ministers, all from the Congress, and eight bureaucrats from the Indian Administrative Service, should explain their alleged role in a case of corruption against politician Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The ministers were working under Jagan's father, Y S R Reddy, when he was chief minister. The case against Jagan states that his father used his office to help promote Jagan's business empire, making Jagan Mohan a very wealthy man. His assets last year totalled 365 crores.
The ministers and officers involved in today's hearing were responsible for 26 deals between the government and different companies. The case against Jagan has been constructed on the basis of these agreements. The group of ministers includes Geetha Reddy, Sabitha Indra Reddy, Ponnala Laxmaiah, Dharmanna Prasad Rao, Kanna Laxminarayana and Mopidevi Venkatramana.
The Supreme Court's order, which asks for notices to be issued to the relevant ministers and bureaucrats, will provide a small measure of relief to Jagan, who split with the Congress after his father died in a helicopter crash in 2009. He has formed his own party named after his father, the YSR Congress. It was his party's first anniversary today.
Speaking to NDTV, Jagan said that he derives strength from his supporters "during this period of great challenges." Today's developments will help boost morale after speculation that Jagan will soon be arrested.
Jagan and his supporters have been arguing that it's unfair for him alone to be investigated. Though they stress Jagan's vast wealth has been legitimately earned, they say that if he was shown undue favour, others who were then in government must explain their role. Today's court developments are based on a petition filed by a lawyer named Sudhakar Reddy.
He had asked for the CBI, which is investigating the case against Jagan, to study who cleared the files for government contracts that eventually benefitted Jagan.
The investigation into Mr Reddy's wealth was ordered by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in August last year. Mr Reddy had appealed to the Supreme Court to stop the inquiry but that was not entertained.