HC orders CBI probe into Emaar-APIIC land deal

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday ordered a prima facie (preliminary) enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into alleged irregularities committed by Dubai-based Emaar Properties in executing a realty project in Hyderabad in equity partnership with the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corp (APIIC).

Hearing a letter petition filed by P Shankar Rao, a minister in the state government, wherein he said equity allotted to APIIC was later watered down, a division bench asked why the court should not order a CBI probe to assess whether there was a prima facie case against Emaar.

At the same time, it heard at length the counsels for Emaar Dubai and Emaar India, who contended that the facts of the case did not require a CBI enquiry. They also said such an enquiry could hurt the reputation of Emaar.

The bench said the CBI report on its investigation should be submitted to the court, and after perusing it, the court would decide on future action.

Allegations of corruption in the Emaar-APIIC deal have been rocking political and legal circles in the state, particularly after Shankar Rao (then a Congress member of the legislative assembly, later promoted to the state cabinet) alleged that the land deal had deprived the state of huge revenue.

Asked whether it is in a position to conduct such an inquiry, the CBI counsel told the court that it was ready for the job.

The division bench comprising chief justice Nisar Ahmad Kakru and justice Vilas Afzalpurkar gave its directive after looking into a petition that was earlier taken up by the court based on a letter written to the chief justice by Congress MLA P Shankar Rao alleging serious irregularities in the APIIC-Emaar deal.

Shankar Rao, now textiles minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, had written another letter to the high court seeking a probe into the assets of YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. The court said it would hear that petition today.