Case Against Jagan Politically Motivated?

Describing the case against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy as being "politically motivated", YSR Congress has said that the legal provisions in the case are being mishandled.

?The accused's right to be heard was denied to Jagan in the case and there was a disproportionate use of investigation agencies,? party senior leader D A Somayajulu told reporters on Sunday.

"Investigation should be completed within 90 days after the FIR has been filed and the chargesheet has been submitted, failing which, any person is eligible for bail.

"In Jagan's case, even after one year, the investigation has still not been completed and five chargesheets have been filed so far, all of them against a single FIR. This goes on to show that the process is shoddy", alleged Somayajulu.

Somayajulu went so far as to accuse Congress of denying bail to its political opponents, and he cited examples of towering leaders like Jai Prakasah Narayana and Morarji Desai amongst others, who were jailed for over 18 months without trial. Somayajulu said that this just goes on to show the vindictive attitude that the ruling party has always nurtured.

"The CBI has compiled the information about Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his companies from his Income Tax returns, and from the data provided to the Registrar of Companies (ROC), and has included them in the chargesheets, but the CBI has no evidence or material of its own", he said.

"First it went on the record, stating that a (highly exaggerated) figure of over Rs. 1 lakh crores had been misappropriated in the case, and this allegation created a false hype. As days passed and it (CBI) could not gather enough material to prove its charge, it scaled down the amount to Rs. 43, 000 crores and then further down to Rs. 1030 crores.

"The amount specified is not the amount that was misappropriated, but is the value of transactions - a fact which exposes the CBI's style of functioning, and the viability of its arguments", he said.

According to Somayajulu, the first three chargesheets only reveal YSR's government policies, and that the land that was given in backward areas to leading industrial units was for the government's profit, while the previous government had given away prime plots of land to companies at throwaway prices.

"The contrast has never been reconciled", he said.

"The second chargesheet deals with the shares issued at a premium (which is an accepted norm). The Rs. 10 share-being-issued-at-a-premium-of-Rs. 350 has nothing illegal to it.

"In fact, the Eenadu group which has shown a consolidated loss of Rs 1,800 crores, has, in the past, issued shares at a very high premium (a share of Rs. 100 for a premium of Rs 5,26,000 per share) which did not attract any law enforcing agencies", he said.

"It is absolutely unfair and unjust how the late YSR was named as a conspirator in the case, though the Prime Minister and other union ministers were shielded during the recent scams", said Somayaulu

"Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy completes one year in detention today, and we strongly believe that it is an intricate conspiracy that is in full play here, and that the case against our leader is politically motivated",he said. (INN)