HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has ordered two inquiries, one by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the other by a retired High Court judge, into alleged irregularities in the acquisition of lands for the Outer Ring Road (ORR) project.

The terms of reference for both inquiries and the time limit for submitting the reports would be finalised while issuing the order.

However, efforts would be made to see that project works were not stopped.

The two inquiries would go into all transactions of lands over a period of five to six years, covered by the project.

The order would indicate the peripheral areas of ORR where registration of lands could be disallowed during the probes, if necessary.

Pending case

A case on the alleged irregularities was pending in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

No irregularity: YSR

Announcing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, Dr. Reddy said he believed that no irregularity was committed in the land acquisitions as alleged by a Telugu daily but he preferred the two probes to clear the air and prove the honesty and integrity of his Government.

Mounting a trenchant criticism on two Telugu newspapers, he said these dailies were acting as "handmaids" of the main Opposition, which was out to blackmail and discredit the Government on one count or the other.

He rejected the Telugu Desam Party's demand for his resignation, saying it was for the people to decide.

Dr. Reddy also indicated that the Government might think of filing defamation suits against the Telugu daily that published the reports for "tarnishing the image" of the Government and his party.

"Government not scared"

The ordering of two probes at a time into an issue was yet another instance of his Government being not afraid of a CBI inquiry which was steadfastly avoided by the Telugu Desam regime even on serious issues such as the Rs. 350-crore beverage scandal.

He said he would have conceded the Telugu Desam demand for a CBI probe if it had sought it during the Assembly debate itself.

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