Ramky, Aurobindo, Hetero mulling legal options

HYDERABAD: City-based companies Ramky group, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd and Hetero Drugs Ltd, which are caught in the eye of a storm ever since they figured in the CBI investigation for investing in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's companies, are now mulling legal options to wriggle out of the crisis.  "Aurobindo Pharma, as a company, did not invest in Jagathi Publications or in any of its associate companies. My son (K Nityananda Reddy, MD, Aurobindo) invested `7 lakh in Jagathi Publications in his personal capacity. But the company per se has nothing to do with this. We will move the court if the company's name figures in the charge sheet," PV Ramaprasad Reddy, chairman of Aurobindo Pharma, told Express.  He said the company was alloted 75 acres at Jedcherla for an SEZ as per the protocol and did not seek any favours from the then government for land allotment. Following the CBI raids on the company's premises last week, Aurobindo's scrip dipped 8.72 per cent on Monday on the BSE to close at `124, while Ramky group's stock nose-dived 15.75 per cent to close at `227 per share.  Ramky group said it was evaluating legal options to ensure its credibility did not erode further. "The allegation the company got benefited through the Pharma SEZ, Visakhapatnam, is baseless. Not a single cheque has gone out of the company or from promoters in their individual capacity to Jagathi Publications. If some of our sub-contractors flouted norms, why is the company blamed for it? We are exploring a legal course," said M Goutam Reddy, managing director of Ramky group.  Ramky developed and maintains the Pharma City SEZ and an industrial park spread across 2,300 acres near Visakhapatnam. Its infrastructure arm has an order book worth `11,500 crore, a majority of which includes projects from the state government.  Similarly, bulk drug manufacturer Hetero Drugs Ltd, which was allotted land at Nakapally for a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, said it procured land at market price and all transactions and dealings were bona fide and as per the set approved procedures.