HC full bench to hear Yeleru scam case

HYDERABAD: The fate of the probe into the Yeleru land compensation scam will finally be decided by a full bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Thursday, 22 years after it was unearthed and after a series of probe by CID and a HC judge.
The full bench, to be constituted by Chief Justice TB Radhakrishnan, will now decide as to who should make a complaint in this case and where to file it.This piquant situation arose mainly because the crime of swindling crores of public money in the name of farmers took place primarily within the four walls of a court hall. Also, the accused in this case has been relentlessly raising technical objections to each and every investigation.
AP acquired land in the late 1980s for laying a canal from Yeleru near Dhawaleswaram in East Godavari for Vizag steel plant. Long after the land was acquired and compensation to farmers, hundreds of pleas started flooding sub-courts in Anakapalli and Chodavaram. Later, the sub judge attached the car of the DC, and office of RDO for failing to implement the court orders.
Owing to pressure from people and opposition in assembly, Naidu announced the appointment of Justice BK Somasekhara Commission of inquiry. But, the panel was challenged by the accused and was quashed by the HC twice on technical grounds. The sub-judge was arrested and dismissed from service. The HC Bench heard a batch of petitions by the accused and state on Saturday.