Reps of Jagans companies go on the offensive

HYDERABAD: Even as Enforcement Directorate (ED) probes possible Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations by YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, representatives of the Kadapa MP’s companies are understood to have told CBI that all major decisions on land allotments taken during the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime cannot be attributed to one individual as they were approved by the then cabinet. This is exactly the defence mounted by Jagan in his affidavit in the high court.The CBI, which is carrying out a preliminary investigation into the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Jagan, is likely to slap notices on key figures close to the late YSR. Sources associated with the probe told Express that the auditor for Jagati Publications Private Limited V Vijay Sai Reddy and director Ishwar Prasad Reddy appeared before CBI joint director VV Laxminarayana on Tuesday while another representative, Balaji from Bharati Cements dropped in at the CBI office on Wednesday. The CBI is being assisted by Assistant Registrar of Companies P Raghunath.  Puttingforth their line of defence, the representatives of Jagan’s companies reportedly told the agency that the Jagati Publications Private Limited and its sister concerns have complied with all the norms of the Companies Act.  They are further understood to have said that the valuation of Jagan’s companies was done by two noted firms, including Deloitte, who forecast its revenues too. “There has been an increase in circulation of the newspaper as predicted though revenues have not risen correspondingly due to the high cost of colour printing,” they reportedly said.The other line of their defence was offence! They, sources said, pointed at much higher valuations of companies done by foreign investors in Hyderabad. “Why only domestic investors are viewed with suspicion?” they wondered.In fact, the Income Tax department, in its final conclusion (after assessments of Jagan’s companies) reportedly treated excess money received by Jagan’s firm in the form of share capital as a “benefit or perquisite, whether convertible into money or not, arising from business or profession.” But then, its assessment is not considered by financial experts to be correct.Finally, Jagan’s representatives are understood to have said that dozens of ministers and bureaucrats were involved in the decisions. They said that not all companies and individuals who invested in JPPL  were allotted lands or got favours from the government.