ED investigates Ashok Leyland in BS-IV ‘scam’

A spokesperson for Ashok Leyland said the probe was not against the company but ‘third-party scarp customer’. Representation pic/AFP

The ED said Wednesday it has attached assets worth more than Rs 22 crore of former Andhra Pradesh TDP MLA J C Prabhakar Reddy, his associates and companies linked to them in a case related to an alleged BS-IV vehicles scam.

The ED said it was also probing the role of major automobile manufacturer Ashok Leyland, headquartered in Chennai, in the case. A spokesperson for Ashok Leyland said the investigation was not against the company but "third-party scarp customer".

The case emerges from a March 2017 ruling of the Supreme Court ordering that vehicles not compliant with BS-IV emission norms shouldn't be sold or registered in India from April 1, 2017, the ED said.

However, Jatadhara Industries Pvt Ltd (JIPL), "controlled" by Reddy, purchased BS-III vehicles from Ashok Leyland Ltd at discount and "fraudulently" registered the same as BS-IV vehicles by fabricating invoice copies, it alleged. A probe found that some of the registrations were done in Nagaland, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it said.

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