APIIC-Emaar case: Shravan Gupta to appear before CBI on Friday

By: Rajesh J.

Hyderabad, India: A special CBI court here Thursday directed Emaar MGF Land Managing Director Shravan Gupta to appear before the central probe agency from Friday till September 6 for questioning in connection with the alleged irregularities in the APIIC-Emaar land deal case.

He is one of the accused in the scam and is charged with “misappropriation” of public money and assets.

Gupta, against whom a non-bailable arrest warrant (NBW) was issued earlier, appeared before the CBI court today following which it gave these directions to enable the CBI to interrogate him for completion of the investigations.

The accused had submitted his passport and requested for recall of the NBW issued against him which was kept in abeyance till this date.

The judge asked him to again appear before the court on August 28 and said the NBW shall be recalled on the petitioner (Gupta) executing a personal bond of Rs two lakh with two sureties for like sum on or before the date. The court kept the NBW in abeyance till that date.

The CBI in the supplementary chargesheet had said Gupta was “absconding” since January and there was no response to notices served on his addresses.

The investigating agency moved an application to secure his presence in the court and issued the NBW against him.

It had filed its chargesheet on February 1 against suspended IAS officer B P Acharya and others comprising individuals and private companies charging them under relevant sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act in the alleged irregularities in land transfer and sale of villas and apartments in the township project at Gachibowli here.

The CBI, in its FIR in August last year, charged Acharya, then Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), of entering into a criminal conspiracy with officials of Emaar Group and unknown public servants to cheat the state-run APIIC and secure wrongful gains to Emaar.

The central agency had earlier alleged that APIIC was deprived of its legitimate revenue share to the tune of Rs 43.5 crore from the Integrated Township Project it developed jointly with Emaar Group at Gachibowli even as Emaar Properties and Emaar MGF obtained pecuniary gain of about Rs 167 crore.