Mauritius drags India to ICJ over InduTech Zone case: All you need to know about the investment case

The InduTech Zone investments case has become more convoluted now that the Mauritius government has dragged India to the International Court of Justice for arbitration in the issue. As reported by The Times of India, Carissa Investments LLC of Mauritius — which held 49 percent stake in InduTech Zone through FDI — approached the Mauritius government, which then took up the case for arbitration under a bilateral treaty for the protection of investments. [caption id=“attachment_4362181” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy. Reuters[/caption] “A legal notice has been served by the Mauritius government in the name of PM Narendra Modi, stating that Carissa LLC has been cheated,” the report quoted a top official of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) as saying. The InduTech Zone case is a quid pro quo investment where Indu Projects Ltd Managing Director Indukuri Syam Prasad Reddy made huge investments in the companies floated by YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy for the favours received from Andhra Pradesh government by way of allotment of 8,844 acre of land for Lepakshi Knowledge Hub Private Ltd, 250 acres of land at Shamshabad for Indu Techzone Private Ltd and various housing projects to Indu Group. At the time of the irregularities, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, father of Jaganmohan Reddy, was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. The CBI filed three chargesheets in respect of undue favours received by Syam Prasad Reddy, reported IANS. In January, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached properties worth Rs 117.74 crore of three companies belonging to Syam Prasad Reddy. The attached movable and immovable assets included undeveloped lands illegally allotted to the companies of Syam Prasad Reddy, properties of Indu Projects Ltd and fixed deposits held by Embassy Property Developments Pvt Ltd and Vasantha Projects Pvt Ltd. The ED case is a follow up of money laundering offences in 11 chargesheets filed by CBI against Jaganmohan Reddy and others. A CBI FIR had earlier stated that since “May 2004, Jagan floated number of companies wherein quid pro quo investments have been made by beneficiaries from decisions of the state government in various forms like SEZs (special economic zones), irrigation contracts, relaxation/permission for real estate ventures, mines among others.” When ED had attached the properties of Syam Prasad Reddy’s companies, it had said in a statement: “In lieu of quid pro quo payments made by Syam Prasad Reddy, he was illegally favoured by the then Andhra Pradesh government by awarding housing projects at Kukatapally (65 acres), Bandlaguda (50 acres), Gachibowli (4.575 acres) and Nandyal (75 acres) by deviating all standard norms and without examining the technical or financial capabilities.” “Syam Pasad Reddy was also unduly favoured by Andhra Pradesh Housing Board (APHB) by granting huge chunks of land for housing projects at a very cheap price as compared to prevailing market rates which caused huge loss to APHB in the form of revenue generation.” According to PTI, the ED statement had also said that Syam Prasad Reddy “paid bribe amounts” to Jaganmohan Reddy through the companies of Nimmagadda Prasad in the form of investments at “exorbitant premiums”. With inputs from agencies