Hyderabad, August 12: The state government is keen on seeking a CBI probe into the APIIC-EMAAR Properties scam whose lid Congress legislators D L Ravindra Reddy and J C Diwakar Reddy opened on Tuesday.
The scam has given an opportunity to the government to turn the screws on Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cronies in this case Ambati Rambabu, former chairman of APIIC. In fact, Ravindra Reddy is busy preparing a note to the Congress high command giving a blow-by-blow account of how the state government was put to a loss of thousands of crores in the APIIC-EMAAR scam.
Ravindra Reddy is planning to expose another scam on Thursday, involving the Rahejas. Chief Minister K Rosaiah is keen on sending a comprehensive report on the development to the Centre, requesting a CBI probe. He has discussed the issue with Ravindra Reddy and Panchayat Raj Minister B Satyanarayana (who was industries minister when the scam took place).
Satyanarayana on Wednesday protested his innocence to his party bosses in Delhi and wanted a highlevel probe into the scam. His case is that he was indeed the industry minister then, but the scam had not come to his notice. on Tuesday, after spilling the details of the scam, Ravindra Reddy and Diwakar Reddy were closeted with Rosaiah for over an hour where it was decided to refer the issue to CBI.
Meanwhile, APIIC wants EMAAR to cough up the last nickel it owes to the state government. The APIIC board which met on Tuesday took this stance after a heated discussion for over three hours.
The facts of the case are: The state government in 2002 allotted 535 acres to EMAAR Properties and signed an MoU with it for a joint venture project. In 2003, APIIC and EMAAR signed another agreement to the effect that of the 535 acres, 258 acres could be developed into a township and the rest used for a golf course. At that time, APIIC’s stake was calculated as 49 per cent and EMAAR’s 49 per cent.
After the Congress came to power in 2004, APIIC’s stake was cut to 26 per cent and that of EMAAR raised to 74 per cent. In 2006, EMAAR, without the knowledge of APIIC, signed a development agreement with its parent organisation EMAARMGF for the development of a township. After more than threeandahalf years, the government realised it had been taken for a ride and issued a legal notice to EMAAR.
According to APIIC’s current chairman S Sivarama Subrahmanyam, his corporation is serious about suing EMAAR Properties for violating the agreement and giving nearly half of the land to its parent company for taking up a real estate venture. “This was done without the knowledge of APIIC. Though the land was allocated by APIIC, it had absolutely no stake in the new company that EMAAR floated with its parent group EMAARMGF,” he said. The value of the land entrusted to EMAAR MGF is nearly Rs 2,500 crore.
Said Subrahmanyam: “EMAAR has not been paying us, saying it is not making a profit. But its share value has gone up.. the value of APIIC’s stake too should go up. We want EMAAR to pay up.”
–Agencies–