Court rejects plea for probe into Chandrababu Naidu assets

The Andhra Pradesh High Court Thursday dismissed a petition by YSR Congress president Y.S. Vijayamma seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged disproportionate assets of former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

The division bench of Justice G. Rohini and Justice Ashutosh Mohunta ruled that the public interest petition of the widow of the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was not maintainable.

The division bench had reserved its order on the plea Dec 14, 2011.

While rejecting the plea, the judges struck down the Nov 14, 2011, orders of another bench which had directed the CBI and other agencies to conduct preliminary investigations against Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Naidu and 13 others.

Naidu had challenged the court’s order for a CBI probe against him.

His lawyer D. Srinivas told reporters that the bench recalled the earlier order of another bench on the ground that it was against the principles of natural justice.

The court also observed that Vijayamma’s petition did not meet the parameters of public interest litigation (PIL). The bench said the petition amounted to the abuse of process of court under the guise of PIL.

“We had argued that the petition is politically motivated and that it has been filed seven and half years after Naidu demitting the office. We had also told the court that Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had filed similar petitions in the high court and the Supreme Court but these were dismissed,” said Srinivas.

Naidu hailed the court order while the YSR Congress party said it would challenge it in the Supreme Court.

The high court Nov 14 last year directed the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and the Securities and Exchange Board of India to conduct preliminary inquiry into the assets of Naidu and others.

The probe agencies were asked to submit their reports within three months.

The court also ordered probe against 13 others, including media baron Ramoji Rao, Naidu’s wife N. Bhuvaneswari, companies owned by their son N. Lokesh, TDP MP and industrialist Sujana Chowdary, actor Murali Mohan and the companies owned by them.

The court passed the orders on a writ petition of Vijayamma in October 2011. She alleged that Naidu, during his nine-year stint as the chief minister (1995-2004) amassed huge wealth by misusing power and defrauding the state exchequer.