The supreme court has issued notices to the CBI, six ministers from Andhra Pradesh and eight IAS officers with respect to their role in issuance of 26 controversial Government Orders that have become the basis for investigation against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case.

This was done on the basis of a petition by advocate Sudhakar Reddy who says the 26 GOs were issued in violation of rules. He claims the the CBI failed to look at the role of the ministers and bureaucrats in issuing the GOs.  All these ministers and IAS officers worked under the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

The ministers are : Sabitha Indra Reddy, Geeta Reddy, P Lakshmaiah, Dharmana Prasada Rao, Kanna Lakshminarayana and Mopidevi Venkatramana

For the YSR Congress party, which completed one year today, this is good news. Because if the ministers also come under the purview of the investigation, it is quite likely that the case against Jagan will get diluted.

The case against Jagan alleges that his businesses profited vastly when his father was CM of Andhra Pradesh from May 2004. That decisions taken by the then Andhra Pradesh government, including by ministers and bureaucrats, helped promote Jagan’s business empire, making him a very wealthy man. Jagan’s assets, declared in 2011, added up to Rs 365 crores.