The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday issued orders permitting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed with the attachment of properties of the media firms promoted by Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy as a part of the ongoing investigation into the case of alleged quid-pro-quo deals against the son of the then chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
The government also issued similar orders pertaining to the properties of the prime accused in the Emaar-APIIC township project irregularities, Koneru Rajendra Prasad, and an alleged associate of Jagan and the accused in the same case Sunil Reddy.
The government issued the orders following the request made by the CBI for permission to apply in the competent court seeking attachment of properties of the accused firms. If accepted, the court may prohibit all the transactions on the properties under question besides appointing a receiver to manage the same.
The attachment of properties of the three media firms are Jagathi Publications, which runs Telugu newspaper Sakshi, Indira TV, which runs the Telugu television news channel with the same name and Janani Infrastructure, which owns the buildings and other physical infrastructure housing the plant and machinery of the newspaper and the TV channel.
Employees of these media firms termed the government action as a black day in the history of freedom of speech, while Jaganmohan Reddy, who now heads his YSR Congress Party, said the move was to silence the true voice of the people in a bid to stall his political march against the ruling Congress government.
