YS Vijayamma, Pulivendula legislator and wife of the late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, filed a petition in the AP High Court on October 17 seeking a CBI probe into the assets of Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu, following which the court had ordered an inquiry on Monday. The following are some of the highlights and the allegations made by her in the petition.
Offences under Various Laws
Vijayamma alleged that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and other respondents committed various offences including those under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, FEMA, the Representation of the People Act, the AP Land Grabbing Act and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.
Land Purchases
The petition said Chandrababu Naidu inherited a meagre two acres of agricultural land in a family partition before 1986. The property is situated in his native village of Naravaripalle in Chittoor district. In a subsequent affidavit, Chandrababu Naidu said he had sold his share of the land and bought lands in Nindali and Vakhyam villages of Nellore, from which he was earning an income of Rs 36,000 per annum. However, he purchased 65 acres of agricultural land through his family members at a low rate of about Rs 1,000 per acre in 1985. Soon thereafter, another 250 acres were purchased benami by Naidu in Sy. Nos. 19, 20, 119, 127, 129, 131, 132 and 138.
Land near Hitec City
Vijayamma alleged that in 1989 a family firm called Rama Agricultural Farms consisting of Naidu’s mother, wife, son and a relative P Dasaiah Naidu purchased 3.276 acres of land in
Kondapur, half-a-kilometre from the Hitec City, for Rs 1 lakh at the rate of Rs 30,487 per acre. The sources of these funds remain unknown.
In 1996, an announcement was made by the government headed by Naidu that an Infotech park called Hitec City would be established in the area abutting Kondapur. As a result, the value of the land held by Rama Agricultural Farms multiplied providing substantial pecuniary benefit to the
holders of the land.
Favours to Kin, Friends
Naidu, when he was the chief minister, selectively leaked the policy formulations of the State in advance for the benefit of individuals and private entities related to him. The site and location of infrastructural projects envisaged or potential sites for such development was leaked out to the firms and entities owned and promoted by Ramoji Rao and Maganti Murali Mohan of Jayabheri Properties. The location and the extents of lands owned by the above named individuals/entities and several others are evidences in this regard. All such favours need to be examined and misuse of power amounting to loss of hundreds of crores of rupees to innocent farmers and land owners ought to be suitably redressed, the petition said.
Satyam Raju's Funds for Lokesh's Education?
Naidu's only son Lokesh was a mediocre student who passed intermediate in science stream with just over 50 percent marks. However, Lokesh obtained his Bachelors Degree (1997-2000) from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University and his Masters (2000-2002) from Stanford University in the USA. Huge amounts were donated from unknown Indian sources - Rs 10 crore to Carnegie Mellon and Rs 12 crore to Stanford. There is reason to believe that these payments came from the accounts of Satyam’s Ramalinga Raju in return for the various benefits offered to him, the petition alleged.
Benamis for Financial Benefits
Naidu has evidently used his mother, his wife and his son to be the conduits of money laundering and also to obtain benefits from the various corporate houses that he has favoured. Apart from the three family members, he has also utilised the services of several small-time businessmen and
made them recipients of State's largesse and benamis for his illegal transactions. They were rewarded both financially and with posts in the TDP and also Rajya Sabha seats, Vijayamma alleged.
Money Laundering Routes
There were several ingenious ways and means adopted by Naidu to launder his money through YS Chowdary (of Sujana group) and his group companies. Chowdary first established a slew of companies to bring Naidu's money under the corporate umbrella. He created circular transactions among his corporate entities, thereby orchestrating purchases and sales entries running into thousands of crores avoiding taxes. There were many cases pending against Chowdary's group companies in various courts, the petitioner claimed.
Foreign Links
Almost all the contracts like Kakinada Sea Ports, Raintree Park at Hyderabad, GMR International Airport, Ascendas IT Park, AP Gems and Jewellery Park and Emaar township were awarded to international companies from Malaysia, Singapore or UAE during Naidu's regime. The then prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohammed had stepped down after facing severe corruption charges in his country. Naidu’s friendship with Mahathir is well-known. Mirzan Bin
Mahathir, the elder son of Mahathir Mohammed, was the chairman of the International Seaports Consortium and even has a majority stake in the said company which got the Kakinada
sea port contract under Public-private partnership basis, Vijayamma contended.
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