Accused in Emaar case asked to appear before CBI

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has asked an accused in the APIIC-Emaar Properties case to appear before the agency for questioning.

Directing the CBI not to arrest Srikanth Joshi till his petition for anticipatory bail is disposed of, the court asked the former CEO of Emaar MGF Land Ltd to make himself available to the investigating agency for questioning for five days from March 5.

Joshi is one of the 12 accused against whom the CBI filed the charge sheet earlier this month.

The court, which adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea till March 14, directed Joshi to appear before CBI from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Earlier, Joshi’s lawyer submitted that his client was ready to present himself before the CBI.

The court adjourned to March 7 hearing on the bail petition of another accused Vijaya Raghav, an executive of Emaar MGF.

Raghav is one of the four accused currently in jail in the Emaar case, which was registered in August last year on the directions of Andhra Pradesh High Court.

According to CBI, Emaar Properties and its associate companies in a criminal conspiracy with some bureaucrats diluted the stake of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in the township project. The government agency, which had allotted prime land for the joint venture in Hyderabad, suffered losses.