Hyderabad: A city court Monday dismissed the petitions by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), seeking orders to attach the properties of YSR Congress party leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the alleged illegal assets case and those of two accused in the Emaar case.
The civil court pointed out at least eight deficiencies in the petition and observed that the investigating agency failed to provide sufficient grounds for attachment. It asked the CBI to file fresh petitions.
The court pointed out that the CBI failed to give details of properties located in various places, and did not mention if all the properties come under the jurisdiction of civil court. The CBI described some properties as "benami (owned by proxy)" but failed to give the names of the owners.
The CBI is likely to file a fresh petition in couple of days. It filed the petition Monday, two days after the state government issued three orders, giving its nod for filing an application in the court for attachment of the properties.
The investigating agency sough attachment of properties of Jagati Publications, Indira Television and Janani Infrastructure, all owned by Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy. It also sought court`s permission for attaching properties of Koneru Prasad and Sunil Reddy in Emaar case.
The attachment of properties in Jagan`s case is with regard to the first charge sheet. The court is likely to issue orders soon.
The civil court also dismissed caveat petitions filed by Jagan`s companies. The firms had Saturday filed the caveat petitions, requesting the court to put them on notice and hear their version before issuing an attachment order.
CBI sources said the attachment would only be aimed at preventing the sale and purchase of the properties. The court may order confiscation of the properties if the companies are found guilty.
The investigating agency earlier this month froze the bank accounts of the three companies. Jagati Publications publishes Telugu daily Sakshi while Indira Television runs 24-hour Telugu news channel Sakshi.
Following the CBI action, the information and public relations department of the state government also issued an order stopping all government advertisements to Sakshi.
The freezing of bank accounts and stoppage of advertisements came under criticism from journalists` unions, who described it as an attack on the freedom of press.
The CBI court has already upheld the freezing of bank accounts. The companies have challenged the CBI court order in the state high court.
Meanwhile, the information and public relations department Monday filed a revision petition in the high court against its May 17 order staying the implementation of the government order with regard to the advertisements.
PTI
