Andhra home minister named accused in Jagan case, offers to quit

Hyderabad  :  Andhra Pradesh Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy Monday night offered to resign, hours after she was named as an accused in the disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy by the CBI.

Sabita offered to quit during a meeting Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy held with her and other cabinet colleagues.

State Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana quoted her as saying that she has done nothing wrong but would submit the resignation as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named her an accused.

“We advised her not to resign,” he told reporters after the meeting. Sabitha is the third minister after Mopidevi Venkata Ramana and Dharmana Prasada Rao to face charges in different aspects of the disproportionate assets case.

Mopidevi was arrested on May 24 last year, while Dharmana continues to be in office after his resignation was rejected by the chief minister.

The CBI Monday filed fifth charge sheet, naming Sabitha as fourth out of 13 accused. She figured in the charge sheet after Jaganmohan Reddy, V. Vijay Sai Reddy and Puneet Dalmia, managing director of Dalmia Cements.

She is charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act for her role in allotment of limestone mines to Dalmia Cements in her capacity as the minister for mines and geology in the cabinet of then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, father of Jaganmohan Reddy.