Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government had established a 10-member SIT in February. (Archive)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today removed the ban on reporting details of a criminal case involving illegal land transactions in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, by influential people, in a major victory for the government of Jagan Mohan Reddy. The state government had declared against a High Court order in September that prevented the media from reporting on an FIR filed on the purchase of land in Amaravati six years ago by those who had knowledge of the decision to make it the capital of the state.
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However, investigations into the case remain suspended. Judges Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah did not rule out the High Court’s ban on investigating the FIR or the First Information Report submitted by the Andhra government. The Supreme Court will hear the case in late January.
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The Supreme Court has sought answers from Andhra Pradesh’s chief police officer and the former state attorney general, who had gone to the High Court requesting that it block media reports against him.
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The FIR alleges that a group of people bought chunks of land in Amaravati that they knew would be declared the new state capital even before the formal announcement in 2015 by the Chandrababu Naidu government at the time. There was a massive land swap and buyers benefited as land prices soared, according to the complaint.
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Former Attorney General Dammalapati Srinivas and the daughters of a Supreme Court judge are appointed to the FIR.
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Dammalapati Srinivas, who served as General Counsel for the Chandrababu Naidu government, is accused of using his influence to extract information about the capital plan and then buying premium land in Amaravati using powers.
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The FIR alleged that Mr. Srinivas had “entered into a criminal conspiracy” with buyers, including the daughters of the Supreme Court judge, who are also mentioned in the case.
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The government of Jagan Mohan Reddy had established a 10-member Special Investigation Team in February for a comprehensive investigation of alleged wrongdoing, in particular land deals in the Amaravati capital region, during the previous regime.
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Srinivas’s lawyers, Mukul Rohatgi and Harish Salve, told the Supreme Court that the state government deliberately leaked details of the case to the media to “smear their reputation.”
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Lead attorney Rajeev Dhavan, who appeared for Andhra Pradesh, said the investigation that the High Court had suspended was “unjustified” as the earlier request was for advance bail and for the media not to report on the case.
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Dhavan also referred to documents related to the FIR and said that an investigation was needed into why farmers sold their land in Amaravati between June and December 2014.
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