N. Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of India Cements Ltd, and two senior IAS officers of AP cadre have been named as accused in one of the three charge-sheets the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed today.
Srinivasan is accused of investing over Rs 140 crore in firms floated by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kadapa MP and President of YSR Congress Party, in exchange for benefits allegedly extended to his company for water and land allocation by the AP government when his father Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was chief minister.
The three charge-sheets concern the cement firms — Penna, ICL and Raghuram Cements. In all the cases, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and Vijaysai Reddy (Jagan’s financial advisor) have been named accused one and two. Srinivasan is the third accused after Jagan and Vijaysai Reddy in the ICL charge-sheet. The two IAS officers who figure in the ICL charge-sheet are M. Samuel and Aditya Nath Das. The CBI filed the fresh charge-sheets in the designated special court. The agency had already filed five charge-sheets.
The main allegation in the disproportionate assets, or quid pro quo, case is the undue favours shown by the Government to Jagan’s firms and the investments made by some companies. Both India Cements, which has plants in Andhra Pradesh, and Penna Cement, promoted by G. Pratap Reddy, are alleged to have invested several crores in Jagan’s firms. Raghuram Cements, on the other hand, was allocated excess land.
‘Nothing irregular’
Reacting to the development, a spokesman of India Cements said that “we have not done anything irregular, which we will establish at the appropriate forum.”
A source in India Cements said the investments in Bharti Cement and water allocation are unrelated. The company divested stake and booked a profit of round Rs 25 crore on the Rs 135-crore investment in Bharti Cement. Water allocation was done in line with the stated policy of the State Government and the company did not pay anything more, the source said.