Hyderabad: Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana high court has quashed the ED case against former APIIC managing director BP Acharya in the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub case, stating that prior sanction from the state govt was required to prosecute a public servant.
Acharya was accused of allotting nearly 9,000 acres of land to Indu Syam Prasad Reddy’s Lepakshi Knowledge Hub in Anantapur district, AP, which was later mortgaged by Reddy to raise significant loans with Acharya’s assistance, despite the absence of any actual knowledge hub.
In his order, the judge emphasised that permission to prosecute Acharya under section 197(1) of the CrPC must be granted by the state govt. As the state had not provided this sanction, the ED’s case could not proceed. However, the judge noted that the ED could approach the trial court again once the necessary permission from the state is obtained. It is important to recall that the state had previously refused to grant sanction for the ED’s prosecution.
