No proof, CBI drops case on Sekar Reddy

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.09.2020

A special court for CBI cases in Chennai on Monday has closed all cases registered against industrialist J Sekar Reddy and five others for allegedly causing ₹247.13 crore loss to the government by illegally converting demonetised currencies, citing lack of evidence.

Additional sessions judge S Jawahar has permitted the CBI to close the FIRs based on the final report filed by the agency. “On conclusion of investigation, CBI has filed chargesheet under section 173(2) of the CrPC recommending closure of the case for lack of sufficient evidence along with the statement of witnesses recorded during investigation,” the court said.

J Sekar Reddy and five others were booked for causing ₹247.13 crore loss to the government by illegally converting demonetised notes

Evidence, witness statements fall short in Reddy case

The court perused all the relevant records including the FIR, statement recorded under Section 161of the CrPC, and documents collected by the investigating officer, the judge said.

“Nothing incriminating surfaced to show that the accused in conspiracy with unknown bank officials and public servants cheated the government,” the court said.

The court said, “The evidence on record is not adequate to launch prosecutable case against the accused persons beyond reasonable doubt to establish that they fraudulently converted the unauthorised cash held by them in old currency notes into new high denomination notes .”

On the basis of the statement of 170 witnesses and 879 documents collected during the investigation, there is no sufficient evidence to launch prosecution against the accused for the offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, or criminal misconduct, the court added.

“As per the oral and documentary evidence, the allegations in the FIR the accused persons have caused wrongful loss to the government to the tune of approximately ₹247 crore and obtaining corresponding wrongful gain to themselves, is not substantiated with prosecutable evidence. Hence the final report has been filed for recommending closure of the case,” the judge added, pointing to the CBI’s report. M Premkumar, K Srinivasulu, K Rethinam, S Ramachandran, and Parasmal Lodha are the other accused in the case.

Speaking to TOI, advocate S Elambharathi and Abdul Saleem, counsel for the accused, said the special court has also ordered return of all documents, material and vehicles seized during the investigation to the respective owners.

The court has also ordered return of all documents, material and vehicles seized during the investigation