HYDERABAD: Expressing dissatisfaction at the ongoing probe of the CID of AP in AgriGold scam, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the CID authorities to submit a status report by Friday so that it can decide whether to entrust the job to the CBI or not.
The bench comprising acting chief justice Dilip B Bhosale and justice SV Bhatt was dealing with PIL case filed by the Telangana AgriGold Customers and Agents’ Welfare Association, represented by its president A Ramesh Babu of the city, seeking probe either with the CBI or ED into the AgriGold deposits scam.
The bench reprimanded both AgroGold consortium and the AP police for the manner in which they were approaching the issue, in spite of the court monitoring the case. The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that the authorities undervalued the properties of respondent company and were not taking steps to arrest the accused in the case.
At this stage, the bench perused the report of the three-member committee (which is looking after e-auctioning of the properties of the company) and found that there was a huge difference between the value of properties arrived at by the company and the committee. The company had earlier made tall claims before the court that the first 14 properties identified for auction will fetch money worth thousands of crores, but going by the report it appears that not even `500 crores will be fetched after auctioning, the bench pointed.
“The company is trying to mislead the court by misrepresenting the facts. There will be serious consequences if it continues to mislead the court. Do not test the patience of the court,” the bench warned.
When the bench asked about the status of investigation, the counsel appearing for AP tried to explain why the arrest is not taking place, but the bench said that it was not impressed with progress of the probe.
In view of the death of justice T Ch Surya Rao, who was heading the committee constituted to oversee the auction of properties, the bench declared that justice GV Seethapathy, retired judge of HC, will now head the committee. The bench posted the matter to Friday.