Hyderabad, January 01: In a major relief to former chief minister K Rosaiah, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday stayed an order of a designated ACB court which directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to initiate probe against the veteran Congress leader over alleged irregularities in transferring government land to a private party.
Justice Tamada Gopalakrishna issued the stay orders while hearing a petition filed by N Satyendra Prasad, one of those named in the original complaint lodged with the ACB court by S Ranga Rao, an advocate.
Ranga Rao had filed the complaint alleging that a nine-acre plot in Ameerpet worth Rs 200 crore was transferred to one GN Naidu “illegally” during Rosaiah’s stint as chief minister.
According to him, the State government had acquired the land in 1987 after paying adequate compensation to the then land owner. But subsequently, the man had allegedly entered into a sale deed with Naidu.
Since then, Naidu had tried three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2006, to rollback the land acquisition agreement with little success.
But after Rosaiah came to power, he had managed to get a GO issued in July this year which effectively reversed the land acquisition causing the government substantial loss. The petitioner named Rosaiah and 14 others in his complaint. Satyendra Prasad, one of those named as accused in the complaint, moved the High Court challenging the ACB court order.
–Agencies