New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday, November 30, that it is investigating the role that automobile manufacturer Ashok Leyland may have played in selling vehicles with outdated emission standards.
The agency has also attached assets worth more than Rs 22 crore of former Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA J.C. Prabhakar Reddy, his associates and companies linked to them in connection with the case.
According to Business Today, two companies – Diwakar Road Lines and Jatadhara Industries Pvt Ltd. and C. Gopal Reddy and Co. – owned by Prabhakar Reddy and a close associate of him, C. Gopal Reddy, respectively, were allegedly involved in purchasing vehicles that violated anti-pollution standards.
These two firms allegedly purchased BS-III vehicles from an Ashok Leyland dealer as scraps and fraudulently registered them as BS-IV vehicles. Vehicles that fall under the former class release more sulphur, particulate matter and other air pollutants.
The probe agency had already questioned Prabhakar Reddy in connection with the same case, Deccan Herald reported. The newspaper cited sources saying that Reddy had purchased 154 heavy vehicles from a dealer “a few years ago”. These vehicles were reportedly manufactured in the BS-III class but were registered as BS-IV vehicles.
The Supreme Court in March 2017 ruled that vehicles not compliant with BS-IV emission norms should not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer from April 1, 2017. The registration of such vehicles was also prohibited from the same date.
Upon investigation, the ED found that some of the registrations were done in Nagaland, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in 2018.
“We have gathered evidences in the form of fabricated invoices from [registration] authorities in Nagaland and original invoices issued by Ashok Leyland as ‘scrap’ for the same vehicles, and established the crime,” an ED release said, according to NDTV.
The proceeds generated by owning and plying and/or selling these vehicles amounted to Rs 38.36 crore, it said.
A spokesperson for Ashok Leyland said that it has not violated any norms. It added that the investigation was not against the company but a “third-party scrap customer”.
“This matter reported seems to be pertaining to an old investigation from the year 2020-2021. We have submitted all documents and details as required by the ED pertaining to this matter, which clearly establishes that we are not implicated in any manner. Ashok Leyland is compliant with all emission requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Reddy is currently the chairman of Tadipatri municipality in the Anantapur district of the state. He had earlier represented Tadipatri in the assembly as an MLA of the TDP.
The ED has attached movable properties worth Rs 6.31 crore, consisting of bank balances, cash, jewellery and receivables, as well as 68 immovable properties valued at Rs 15.79 crore belonging to Prabhakar Reddy, his family members, companies controlled by him and Gopal Reddy and his family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The total value of the attached properties is Rs 22.10 crore.
(With inputs from PTI)