File photo of Jagan Mohan Reddy
India Cements MD and BCCI President N Srinivasan, an accused in the illegal assets case involving YSR Congress leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, appeared before a special court in Hyderabad along with others chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the high-profile case, today.
The CBI court on September 25 had taken cognizance of the sixth charge sheet filed by the probe agency against Mr Reddy, Mr Srinivasan and others on September 10, and issued summons, asking all the accused to appear on November 1.
Accordingly, all of them appeared in the Court, which then fixed December 3 for next hearing.
The sixth charge sheet relates to India Cements making alleged quid pro quo investments to the tune of Rs 140 crore into Mr Reddy-owned companies, and consequent "undue" benefits received by the firm in allocation of land and water from rivers Krishna and Kagna from the then Andhra Pradesh Government led by Mr Reddy's father, YS Rajasekhara.
Mr Reddy and his financial advisor Vijay Sai Reddy figured as the first two accused in the charge sheet, while the others include Srinivasan, IAS officers M Samuel and Aditya Nath Das, Jagati Publications and Carmel Asia.
"We have not done anything wrong and it will be proved (in court). Beyond that I have nothing to say," Mr Srinivasan told the waiting journalists as he emerged out of the court.
CBI has so far filed 10 charge sheets, which have names of former state Ministers, bureaucrats, corporate entities and businessmen besides Mr Reddy and his associates.
Mr Reddy, the prime accused in the case, was granted bail on September 23 after being in jail for over a year.
The case relates to investments made by various companies in Mr Reddy's firms as quid quo pro for alleged favours bestowed on them during the tenure of Rajasekhara Reddy, who was Chief Minister between 2004 and 2009.