Amaravati land scam: Let there be court monitored CBI probe, AP tells SC

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it is agreeable for court monitored CBI probe into alleged irregularities in land transactions during shifting of the state capital to Amaravati.

It urged the court to lift the stay granted by Andhra Pradesh High Court on the probe by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) into the alleged scam and allow the investigation to go on in the case.

The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government had earlier constituted the 10-member SIT, headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police- rank IPS officer, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into various alleged irregularities, particularly the land deals in the Amaravati Capital Region, during the previous Chandrababu Naidu regime.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy was told by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Andhra Pradesh government, that they are agreeable to some of the prayers sought by state's former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas before the High Court.

We are agreeable to some of the prayers sought by petitioner before the High Court (Dammalapati Srinivas). First, we are agreeable that no coercive action will be taken against him. Secondly we are agreeable that court monitored probe should be there but it should be by the CBI, as we have earlier requested for the CBI probe but it didn't happen , Dhavan said in the brief hearing.

He said that the State only urge the court that investigation by SIT should be allowed to continue till the time probe is given to the CBI.