The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to spell out its stand on a petition by India Cements Ltd chairman and former chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), N Srinivasan.
Srinivasan had sought an exemption from making personal appearances in the trial court, with regard to his company's involvement in the ongoing Disproportionate Assets (DA) case against YSRCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
Srinivasan's counsel argued that it would make no difference to the hearing and trial of the case, if his client was not present personally during the hearing.
The court then postponed the matter to February 27, and asked the ED to file its response on the issue.
The allegations against Jagan relate to the period 2004-2009.
The case’s chargesheet said that Jaganmohan Reddy, in criminal conspiracy with others, allotted a mining lease to Bharathi Cement Corporation Private Limited illegally and received bribes from various persons/companies in the guise of investments in his group companies as 'quid pro quo' for undue favours granted to them by the Andhra Pradesh government, when Jagan's father YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister.
The ED said its investigations revealed that Jaganmohan Reddy laundered the proceeds of crime through his group companies Sandur Power, Classic Realty, Silicon Builders, Saraswati Power and Industries and 10 other companies in the form of investments, purchase of movable and immovable properties and third party payments etc.
The ED has already attached assets worth over Rs 1,000 crore in the overall PMLA cases.
Jagan was arrested in May 2012 in the DA case when he was an MP. In 2013, the special CBI court had granted conditional bail to Jagan, after he spent 16 months in jail.
Jagan is presently out on bail, and continues to attend court hearings regularly.
IANS inputs