Jagan moves court against freezing of bank accounts

YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan has moved the Central Bureau of Investigation court on Wednesday seeking to defreeze bank accounts of Jagathi publications, Sakshi TV and Janani Infrastructure Pvt Ltd owned by him. The court has asked the CBI to file its reply by Thursday following which it would pass its orders. 

CBI, which is probing a case of disproportionate assets against Jagan Mohan Reddy, has frozen the accounts of the above mentioned companies as it believes that money procured illegally is parked in these three companies. The CBI had written a letter to the managers of the three banks, asking them to freeze the accounts of these companies, following which they were frozen.

In his plea, he has stated that if the CBI wanted information regarding these accounts, they could have sought the information from the bank manager. The investigation is not regarding the daily transactions of this company but about the equity of the company. There is no irregularity in the daily transactions and their taxes are up to date; hence freezing these accounts makes no sense at all, according to Jagan's legal team.

The freezing of these accounts has dealt a severe blow to Jagan and his aides. Sakshi TV and Jagathi publications are considered to be the voice of the YSR Congress chief, who has been running his campaign against the Congress with their help.

Sources express the apprehension that if the accounts remain frozen, then the going may get rough for the news channel and the publication after 15 days or so. It will also become difficult for Jagan to pump in money as all transactions are currently under heavy scrutiny.

In another development the State Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the CBI to explain its stand on the same issue by June 6.

A group of lawyers have approached the SHRC and complained that the freezing of Sakshi TV's accounts has affected the livelihood of 20,000 employees. The Commission has issued notices to the joint director of the CBI.

In Hyderabad, around 100 journalists took out a protest march against the CBI action and submitted a memorandum to Governor ESL Narasimhan.