ED seeks fast-track trial in Jagan Reddy PMLA cases
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has petitioned the Telangana High Court for a day-to-day trial and the personal appearance of all accused in the long-stalled money-laundering prosecutions against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and 73 others, arguing that nearly a decade of procedural delays has denied them the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.
In Writ Petition No 33845/2026, filed on September 23, the agency asked the criminal justice system to speed up the resolution of nine prosecution complaints under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. These complaints were filed between 2016 and 2021 in the Special Court for CBI Cases in Nampally, Hyderabad. The court has acknowledged all nine cases, but they are still stuck at the discharge-petition stage. Hearings have taken place, but decisions keep getting postponed. According to the ED, this is mostly because of changes in presiding officers and other administrative reasons.
The underlying investigation originated from a CBI FIR registered on the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court under Sections 120-B read with 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The FIR alleged that large-scale Government favours were extended to corporates and individuals during the chief ministership of the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, in exchange for massive investments into companies controlled by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his family members. Investors named in the press release include Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., Hetero Drugs Ltd, Indu Projects Ltd., Indu Techzone Pvt. Ltd., Lepakshi Knowledge Hub Pvt Ltd, VANPIC Projects Pvt Ltd, VANPIC Ports Pvt Ltd, Nimmagadda Prasad, Ramky Pharma City (India) Ltd, and The India Cements Ltd. These entities, the ED states, subscribed to shares at exorbitant rates in firms such as Bharati Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd, Jagati Publications Pvt Ltd, and Janai Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
The agency emphasised that even after considerable time has elapsed since cognisance, there has been no significant progress. In support of its plea for expedition, the ED invoked the Supreme Court’s observations in Criminal Appeal No. 730 of 2013 (YS Jagan Mohan Reddy vs CBI). The apex court held that economic offences form a class apart and must be viewed differently, particularly when they involve deep-rooted conspiracies and huge losses of public funds that threaten the financial health of the country as a whole.
“The proceedings have remained pending in the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy case for nearly ten years, and the chronology of the proceedings itself demonstrates the absence of reasonable expedition in the prosecution of the matter,” the ED stated. It sought day-to-day hearing of both the prosecution complaints and the pending discharge petitions “in the interest of justice.”
The agency added that further investigation is in progress. The petition places the High Court squarely at the centre of a recurring institutional problem: high-profile economic offences that linger for years in special courts, long after the investigative agencies have filed their complaints and courts have taken cognisance. Whether the Telangana High Court will direct continuous hearings and the accused’s personal attendance remains to be seen, but the filing signals the ED’s determination to break a decade-long logjam in one of the country’s most closely watched PMLA matters.
