HYDERABAD: Giving a new twist to the APIIC-Emaar row, Special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court judge Sudheer Kumar on Tuesday directed Director General (DG), Anti- Corruption Bureau, to register a First Information Report (FIR) against former Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation chairman Ambati Rambabu, former advisor D Parthasarathy Rao, former managing director B P Acharya and 13 others in the Emaar properties land scam, conduct a thorough probe and submit a report to the court on November 24.
The judge issued the directive while admitting a writ petition filed by an advocate T Sriranga Rao, alleging that large-scale irregularities took place while alienating prime land in Nanakramguda in the city to Emaar Properties and others. Among the accused, BP Acharya is currently the Industries Secretary.
Former minster J C Diwakar Reddy said it was a welcome development while Ambati Ramababu against whom the court wanted an FIR registered also welcomed the court’s direction. He said he would cooperate with the ACB but maintained that he was clean.
The petitioner, who is also the co-convenor of the Telangana Joint Action Committee of Advocates, submitted that a staggering `5,675 crore was involved in the land scam and alleged that the accused had given away prime land to the beneficiaries throwing norms to the winds.
Counsel for the petitioner and former ACB public prosecutor J Krishna cited several incidents wherein the accused allegedly went out of their way to benefit the other accused. The alienation of prime land was not done in accordance with basic rules like issuing a notification.
The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that in some cases, the land was registered first and the company was floated later. In another case, the accused made an allotment to an international real estate dealer and also to a Pharma R&D unit in the area earmarked for an IT Park.