Hyderabad: The CBI investigation ordered by
Andhra Pradesh High Court into the alleged disproportionate
assets case against Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Emaar
properties land dealings should also cover cabinet ministers,
among others, Andhra Pradesh Textiles Minister P Shanker Rao
said on Sunday.
Rao, who had written a letter to the High Court seeking
probe in the matter, sent a letter to the CBI director today,
saying that the agency`s probe cover ministers and others too.
He suggested that the probe should cover ministers,
officials and all others to ensure completeness.
"All those who include officials, non-officials, third
parties, parties in power including the concerned ministers,
legal advisers, advisers on the subject, advisers to the
government, chartered accountants at the relevant period who
are directly or indirectly involved in the criminal conspiracy
and acted in furtherance of such criminal conspiracy to
benefit the third parties who are not a party to the writ and
cover," Rao said in his letter.
The probe should also cover all other aspects pertaining
to the loot of public exchequer, he said.
A special investigation team (SIT), comprising experts in
various fields, should be appointed because of the magnitude
of the offences, he said.
"The persons involved in the case being powerful and most
capable of destroying the available evidence. As such
immediate steps may be ordered to seize and confiscate the
entire relevant documentary and other evidence. Steps for
avoiding the undue influence on the material witnesses by the
accused should be taken by keeping the accused under judicial
custody as being done by the CBI in the cases of similar
nature," Rao further said in his letter.
"The accused YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in his counter
affidavit in the above cases has testified that probe and
investigations against 75 per cent of the Cabinet ministers of
his late father YS Rajasekhara Reddy may have to be ordered
in case of any investigation against him etc.
"Therefore, the present registration of crime, probe and
investigation has to be covering the above aspect in the
greater interest of public and to save the public exchequer
from the loot," Rao said in the letter.
Responding to the letter, state Congress president Botsa
Satyanarayana said there is nothing wrong in Rao writing a
letter seeking a probe against the Cabinet ministers too.
Satyanarayana, who is Transport Minister now, was also a
minister in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime.
The entire Cabinet is collectively responsible for the
decisions taken by it, but the ministers cannot be held
responsible for any secret irregularities that might have
taken place, Satyanarayana said.
"The guilty will be punished. The guilty will have to be
punished," he said.
PTI
