Case: Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy Vs. C.B.I

(a) On the orders of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Writ Petition Nos. 794, 6604 and 6979 of 2011 dated 10.08.2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation (in short, Hyderabad, registered a case being R.C. No. 19(A)/2011-CBI-Hyderabad dated 17.08.2011 under Section 120B read with Sections 420, 409 and 477-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for shortand Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (in shortagainst Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1), Member of Parliament and 73 others.(b) The appellant-Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was named as an accused at Sl. No. 1 in the FIR dated 17.08.2011 (after the chargesheet was framed, he was arrayed as A-1 and hereinafter, he will be referred to as A-1).(c) During investigation, it was revealed that Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A- 1), son of Late Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has adopted several ingenious ways to amass illegal wealth which resulted in great public injury. The then Chief Minister of the State abused his public office to the benefit of his son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1). Since May, 2004, A-1 started floating a number of companies including M/s Jagathi Publications Pvt. Ltd., which was originally incorporated as a private limited company on 14.11.2006 and later converted into a public limited company on 12.01.2009. At the relevant time, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1) was designated as the Authorised Signatory to operate the Bank accounts of the said Company. He was appointed as a Director and Chairman with effect from 21.06.2007. It is alleged that A-1 floated M/s Jagathi Publications Pvt. Ltd. with an objective of conducting media business with the ill-gotten wealth. Most of the shareholders were alleged to be the benamis of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1). Further, as a quid pro quo to these investments, the benefits were received by various investors including the companies/individuals from the decisions of the State Government in allotment of lands for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), contracts for irrigation projects, special relaxations/permissions for real estate ventures, mines etc. It is further revealed that Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (A-1) laundered the bribe money by routing it through various individuals and companies and getting investments made by them in his companies at a high premium.(d) On 31.03.2012, 23.04.2012 and 07.05.2012, the CBI filed first, second and third charge sheet(s) respectively before the Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad and the appellant was arrayed as A-1 in all the charge sheets. The Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases took cognizance of the charge sheet dated 31.03.2012 which was numbered as CC No. 8 of 2012. The appellant was arrested on 27.05.2012 for his involvement and complicity in the case and presently, he is in judicial custody. On 29.05.2012 and 30.05.2012, the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases took cognizance of second and third charge sheet(s) which were numbered as CC Nos. 9 and 10 of 2012 respectively.(e) On 29.05.2012, the appellant filed Crl. M.P. No. 1055/2012 in CC No. 8 of 2012 before the Court of the Special Judge for CBI Cases at Hyderabad for grant of regular bail under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short ‘theThe Special Judge, by order dated 01.06.2012, dismissed his application for bail.(f) The CBI filed Criminal Petition Nos. 4743 and 4744 of 2012 before the High Court for the remand of A-1 for a period of 5 days. The High Court, by order dated 02.06.2012, allowed the petitions and remanded A-1 to the custody of the CBI from 03.06.2012 to 07.06.2012. By further orders dated 08.06.2012 in Crl. M.P. No. 4785 of 2012 in Criminal Petition No. 4743 of 2012, the custody was extended to a further period of 2 days.(g) Being aggrieved, the appellant moved the High Court for enlarging him on bail in Criminal Petition No. 5211 of 2012. The High Court, taking note of serious nature of the offence and having regard to personal and financial clout of the appellant (A-1) and finding that it cannot be ruled out that witnesses cannot be influenced by him in case he is released on bail at this stage, by impugned order dated 04.07.2012, dismissed his bail application.(h) Being aggrieved by the orders dated 02.06.2012 and 04.07.2012, the appellant preferred two special leave petitions being Nos. 5901 and 5902 of 2012 before this Court. This Court, by order dated 09.08.2012, issued notice in SLP (Crl.) No. 5902 of 2012 and dismissed SLP (Crl.) No. 5901 of 2012.(i) On 13.08.2012, the CBI filed fourth charge sheet in the Court of Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad which was numbered as CC No. 14 of 2012.(j) This Court, on coming to know that the investigation is continuing in connection with 7 matters, dismissed the special leave petition being SLP (Crl.) 5902 of 2012 by order dated 05.10.2012 with a direction to the CBI to complete the investigation as early as possible and to file a consolidated charge sheet on the remaining 7 issues. This Court also directed the appellant to renew his prayer for bail before the trial court on completion of the investigation by the CBI.(k) On 16.11.2012, the appellant filed Crl. M.P. No. 1938 of 2012 before the Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad, seeking default/statutory bail.On the same day, the appellant filed Crl. M.P. No. 1939 of 2012 in CC No. 8 of 2012 before the Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad, seeking regular bail. By orders dated 28.11.2012 and 04.12.2012, the Special Judge rejected the bail applications filed by the appellant herein in Crl. M.P. No. 1938 of 2012 and Crl. M.P. No. 1939 of 2012 respectively.(l) The appellant preferred Criminal Petition No. 8576 of 2012 before the High Court for grant of bail which came to be dismissed on 24.12.2012. Being aggrieved, the appellant preferred Criminal Petition No. 8750 of 2012 before the High Court. The High Court, by order dated 24.01.2013, dismissed the petition filed by the appellant herein.(m) Being aggrieved by the order of the High Court, the appellant herein has preferred this appeal by way of special leave.

Reasoning:
14) On going into all the details furnished by the CBI in the form of Status Report and the counter affidavit dated 06.05.2013 sworn by the Deputy Inspector General of Police and Chief Investigating Officer, Hyderabad, without expressing any opinion on the merits, we feel that at this stage, the release of the appellant (A-1) would hamper the investigation as it may influence the witnesses and tamper with the material evidence. Though it is pointed out by learned senior counsel for the appellant that since the appellant is in no way connected with the persons in power, we are of the view that the apprehension raised by the CBI cannot be lightly ignored considering the claim that the appellant is the ultimate beneficiary and the prime conspirator in huge monetary transactions.15) Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offence having deep rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds needs to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing serious threat to the financial health of the country.16) While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar considerations.