Telangana HC Upholds Tribunal Order in Vanpic Case, Dismisses ED Appeals Against Jagan Camp

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court, in an aid to former AP chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and others on Friday, upheld the orders of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Appellate Tribunal, which found significant procedural lapses and lack of proper justification in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) temporary annexation of Vanpic (Vadarevu-Nizampatnam Ports and Industrial Corridor) project assets.

A division bench comprising Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao dismissed the nine pleas filed by the ED challenging the court’s orders on the grounds that the agency failed to submit any fresh material or legal justification warranting interference with the court’s findings. The bench observed that the court’s conclusions were well-reasoned and supported by the evidence on record.

Earlier, the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had alleged that industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad received undue benefits through the project and subsequently invested Rs 854.50 crore in companies associated with Jagan Mohan Reddy under the purported quid pro quo deal. Based on these allegations, ED launched a money laundering investigation and seized many assets belonging to Jagan Mohan Reddy, Prasad and related entities.

The attachment orders were later challenged before the PMLA Appellate Tribunal and in July 2019, there was an error in the procedure followed by the ED in attaching the properties. Objecting to the same situation, ED filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the decisions of the appeal court. On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected ED’s appeals.