Andhra Liquor 'Scam': Ex-CM Jagan Reddy’s Name Surfaces In Chargesheet, Named Recipient Of Kickbacks
Jagan Reddy was allegedly a recipient of ₹50-60 crore/month in kickbacks during the ₹3,500 crore liquor scam: Chargesheet.
Amaravati, Jul 20 (PTI0 A chargesheet filed by Andhra Pradesh police in connection with the Rs 3,500 crore alleged liquor scam in a local court has mentioned former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as one of the recipients of the total kickbacks averaging Rs 50-60 crore per month.
The 305-page chargesheet filed on Saturday, however, stopped short of naming Jagan as accused.
The court is yet to take the cognizance of the chargesheet.
"The collected amounts were eventually handed over to Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy(A-1). Rajasekhar Reddy would then pass the money to Vijay Sai Reddy (A-5), Mithun Reddy (A-4), Balaji (A-33) who would transfer it to former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. On an average, Rs 50-60 crore was collected every month (during the 2019-24 YSRCP regime)," the charge sheet said adding that it was corroborated by a witness.
The chargesheet alleged that Rajasekhar Reddy, "the mastermind and co-conspirator" behind the entire Rs 3,500 crore liquor scam, had influenced excise policy manipulation besides being instrumental in replacing automated OFS (order for supply) with manual process; to have planted loyalists in APSBCL (Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited). He allegedly created shell distilleries and handed over "kickbacks" to Jagan through another accused Balaji Govindappa, the chargesheet further alleged.
Rajasekhar Reddy routed as much as Rs 250-Rs 300 crore cash for elections on behalf of YSRCP Party in tandem with accused Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy (former MLA) and was also responsible for laundering funds through over 30 shell firms.
The amount was invested to acquire land, gold, luxury assets in Dubai and Africa.
The police alleged that the key accused brought out the new liquor policy during the previous YSRCP regime with an underlying intent of having full control over the supply and sale of liquor, thereby to achieve their broader goal of earning commissions/kickbacks between 2019 till 2024.
"The accused planned the change in excise policy and also its modalities, to ensure that they would receive large kickbacks, majority portion of such kickbacks was received in cash, gold bullion etc," the charge sheet said.
During investigation it was revealed that the accused deliberately withheld OFS approvals to brands/distilleries who did not yield to the kickback demands.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged liquor scam on Saturday arrested YSRCP Lok Sabha member PV Midhun Reddy in the case after grilling him for several hours.
In May, the Enforcement Directorate also filed a money laundering case to investigate the alleged liquor scam.
The federal probe agency has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe alleged irregularities in the sale of liquor in the state.
A string of YSRCP leaders condemned the arrest of Midhun Reddy, calling it a clear case of ‘political vendetta’ by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
In a YSRCP press release, former ministers Botcha Satyanarayana, Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani), Ambati Rambabu, Merugu Nagarjuna, and party general secretary G Srikanth Reddy had expressed serious concerns over the alleged misuse of power to target opposition leaders.
New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has alleged that the basic purpose of the Congress and some other parties criticizing the Waqf (Amendment) Act is to keep Muslims as their vote bank, and asserted that the Modi government believes in "appeasement to none, justice to all".
With the Supreme Court in May reserving interim orders on three key issues after hearing both sides in the Waqf case, Rijiju said he will not make any preemptive statement right now with regard to the matter which is pending in the apex court.
"But let us make one thing very clear. The job of Parliament is to make laws. The Supreme Court can definitely interpret it in the right way," Rijiju told PTI Videos in an interview.
"We are very confident that whatever we have done is as per law and as per the provisions and spirit of the Constitution. I am very confident that the role of Parliament will not be taken away," he said.
On AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's criticism of the new Waqf law, Rijiju said he doesn't want to criticize Owaisi for his opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Act because he made the remarks against the legislation out of compulsion.
"The main problem is what I tell you. Some of these leaders, including the Congress party, have treated the Muslims as a vote bank. When you start taking and making a community as a vote bank, then you become irrational.
"Then you put them into one bracket, that good or bad doesn't matter, they will all be rhetorical," the minister said.
So, those who criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, are only trying to keep the Muslims poor and ensure that they remain as their vote bank.
"Our thinking is opposite to that. Ours is appeasement to none, justice to all," Rijiju said.
There are many within the Muslim community, lots of groups, women, children and backward communities who have not gotten any benefit out of the Waqf properties, the minister told PTI on Friday.
"So, India's Waqf properties you know very well are the highest number of Waqf properties in the world. More than 9,70,000 Waqf properties are there which must be put into use for the purpose for which those properties were created," Rijiju said.
He pointed out that under the provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, "we are to handle through the mutawallis and the waqf boards proper management for the welfare of the Muslim community, especially the poor." "These (Congress and some other leaders) people know that if the Muslim community becomes better, prosperous then they will be more educated, have more understanding and they will not be the main vote bank for anybody," Rijiju said.
"So, the basic purpose of Congress and some of the other leaders criticizing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill is to make Muslims as their vote bank and to keep them poor all the time," he said.
"Otherwise, tell me one reason why they should oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill? On a rational basis, they cannot," he said.
On the Collector being given more powers under the new law, Rijiju said, "We are making the rules, now it's in the final stage. There is no final authority to any officer. It is only responsibility being given to certain officers. If there are disputes between the government lands and the private, the collector has to decide, but the appeal has to be made to an officer which is higher than the collector. Otherwise, what is the job of the collectors? Collectors are there for revenue purposes primarily." "So, if you don't trust collectors, then who do you trust?" he said.
Reiterating its observation on the presumption of constitutionality in favour of the law, the Supreme Court in May reserved interim orders on three key issues after hearing both sides in the waqf case.
The Centre has strongly defended the Act, saying waqf by its very nature was a secular concept and can't be stayed given the presumption of constitutionality in its favour.
Moreover, though waqf was an Islamic concept, it was not an essential part of Islam.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament in April and subsequently came into force through a government notification.
While the BJP-led NDA had rallied in support of the Bill, the opposition INDIA bloc united in opposing it.
Several Muslim bodies and opposition MPs had moved the Supreme Court against the law, which the ruling alliance has described as a force for transparency and empowerment of backward Muslims and women from the community. The Opposition has slammed it as unconstitutional and claimed that it infringes on the rights of Muslims.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
Top Headlines
