Telangana HC Quashes ED Case Against Ex-IAS BP Acharya

In a relief to retired IAS officer B.P. Acharya, the Telangana High Court set aside criminal proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate against him in relation to allegations of fraud and breach of contract in allocating land in Anantapur to the Indu group and its head Shyam Prasad Reddy in name of Lepakshi Knowledge Centre. The court made it clear as per Supreme Court directions and Section 197(1) of CrPC, no cognisance can be taken against public servant without prior permission of the government. In this case, no such prior permission was not obtained by ED.

It is pertinent to mention here that CBI had filed 11 chargesheets against Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and others on alleged quid pro quo transactions and



interests during the regime of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. Based on the CBI cases, the ED filed nine chargesheets and in the case of Lepakshi Knowledge Centre, Acharya was named as an accused on charges of graft, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and others. 

This was done on the grounds that he was vice-chairman and managing director of APIIC when around 8,800 acres of land was allotted to the Indu group which it subsequently mortgaged. Acharya approached the High Court challenging the cognisance taken by the trial court on the file of ED. His contention was that the charges were framed against him without taking permission from the government.