HYDERABAD: Justice KC Bhanu of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday questioned the CBI over ‘discrimination’ towards some of the accused in the Emaar Properties scam.
Dealing with a criminal petition of Koneru Rajendra Prasad, accused No.
6 in the case, the judge asked the CBI counsel why the investigating agency had failed to arrest all the accused and why only some have been summoned or arrested.
The petitioner alleged that the CBI was showing discrimination in dealing with the case.
The judge further asked the CBI to show the investigation material on the charges levelled against Prasad.
CBI senior counsel P Kesava Rao said the investigating agency has not shown any discrimination towards the accused.
The CBI had already arrested some and a few others were absconding, the counsel said.
As for Koneru Prasad, he had played a key role in money transactions of Emaar Properties.
The residential address of Prasad was shown as the address of Stylish Homes.
The CBI was trying to ascertain the end beneficiary of amounts received in the scam.
There was every possibility of influencing witnesses and tampering with evidence if the accused is released on bail, he said.
Petitioner’s senior counsel Padmanabha Reddy argued that there was no need for the CBI to keep Koneru Prasad in judicial custody even after filing the chargesheet.
The Judge decided to continue the arguments, including on the criminal petition filed by the CBI challenging grant of bail to IAS officer BP Acharya, accused No.1 in the Emaar scam, on March 27.